'The Second Amendment as Ordinary Constitutional Law'

A quick but fascinating read, from Glenn Reynolds, at Instapundit, "MY LATEST LAW REVIEW ARTICLE..."

Click through at the link.

Woman Throws Shoe at Hillary Clinton During Las Vegas Speech

At iOWNTHEWORLD, "Woman Arrested After Throwing Shoe at Hillary Clinton During Speech."

Nigerian Child Bride Kills Husband and His Three Friends by Lacing Meal with Rat Poison

She was just 14, but did what she had to do to be free.

At Atlas Shrugs, "Child bride forced into marriage poisons groom and three of his friends in Nigeria."

Glenn Greenwald to Return to U.S. to Accept Polk Journalism Award

Well, it's certainly something I've been waiting for. I can't say it wouldn't be amusing to see Greenwald taken into custody.

From Michael Calderone, at Puff Ho, "Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras Returning to U.S. For First Time Since Snowden Revelations" (via Mediagazer):

NEW YORK -- Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, two American journalists who have been at the forefront of reporting on documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, will return to the United States on Friday for the first time since revelations of worldwide surveillance broke.

Greenwald and Poitras, currently in Berlin, will attend Friday’s Polk Awards ceremony in New York City. The two journalists are sharing the prestigious journalism award with The Guardian’s Ewen MacAskill and with Barton Gellman, who has led The Washington Post’s reporting on the NSA documents. Greenwald and Poitras interviewed Snowden last June in Hong Kong as he first revealed himself.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Greenwald said he’s motivated to return because “certain factions in the U.S. government have deliberately intensified the threatening climate for journalists.”

“It’s just the principle that I shouldn’t allow those tactics to stop me from returning to my own country,” Greenwald said.

Greenwald suggested government officials and members of Congress have used the language of criminalization as a tactic to chill investigative journalism.

In January, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper suggested that journalists reporting on the NSA documents were acting as Snowden’s “accomplices.” The following month, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, claimed that Greenwald was selling stolen goods by reporting stories on the NSA documents with news organizations around the world. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) has called for Greenwald to be prosecuted.

Greenwald said the government has not informed his legal counsel whether or not he could face any potential charges, or if he's been named in any grand jury investigation tied to the NSA disclosures.

Also at the Daily Dot, "NSA reporters Greenwald and Poitras to brave U.S. return Friday." And at NYT, "Polk Award for Snowden Coverage Draws 2 to U.S."

L.A. County Sheriff Deputies Kill Aspiring Producer by Mistake in Hostage Case

My friend Lamby tweeted:

This is beyond horrible. Did you see this @AmPowerBlog? http://t.co/JWPgeR2D6k

— Bossy & Proud of It (@lamblock) April 11, 2014

And here's more at LAT, "L.A. County deputies fatally shoot man by mistake."

Sebelius Resigns

At WSJ, "Kathleen Sebelius to Resign Health Post: Move Comes After Health Sign-ups Hit 7.5 Million."

And from Susan Page, at USA Today, "First Take: Sebelius exits, battered and blamed":

WASHINGTON -- In the end, Kathleen Sebelius was able to resign as secretary of Health and Human Services during a high point, when the administration had just announced that 7.5 million Americans had signed up for insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchanges.

But that moment came only after six months of battering and blame over the botched roll-out of the healthcare.gov website. The enduring image of her five-year tenure as head of the huge agency is likely to be as the silver-haired woman sitting alone at a congressional hearing table, peering over reading glasses as she faced what often seemed to be an inquisition.

Even when President Obama held a victory rally of sorts last week in the Rose Garden, announcing that sign-ups had edged over the original goal of seven million, Sebelius was assigned a front-row seat but wasn't called to join in the camera shot or thanked by name in the president's remarks.

Fairly or not, some in the administration hold her responsible for an IT debacle that has dented Obama's legacy, raised questions about his competence and put Democratic candidates in peril in November. A USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll released Thursday showed the danger ahead: A majority of Americans now say the Affordable Care Act will be "very important" in their decision who to support in the midterm congressional elections. Those motivated voters disapprove of Obamacare by 2-1.

More.

Here's that poll, "Poll: Health law's campaign clout bad news for Democrats."

And at Twitchy, "‘What took so long?’ Kathleen Sebelius resigning as head of HHS."

#BREAKING: @AP reporting that #HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to resign #fnpolitics #breakingnews #foxnews pic.twitter.com/SLFcJtRc1Q

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) April 10, 2014

Health And Human Services Secretary Resigning After Troubled Obamacare Rollout http://t.co/8Cwok5WqVD pic.twitter.com/wFIyaHBbJd

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) April 10, 2014

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Here's What I Would Have Said at Brandeis

She's got an op-ed up at WSJ, "We need to make our universities temples not of dogmatic orthodoxy, but of truly critical thinking":

On Tuesday, after protests by students, faculty and outside groups, Brandeis University revoked its invitation to Ayaan Hirsi Ali to receive an honorary degree at its commencement ceremonies in May. The protesters accused Ms. Hirsi Ali, an advocate for the rights of women and girls, of being "Islamophobic." Here is an abridged version of the remarks she planned to deliver.

One year ago, the city and suburbs of Boston were still in mourning. Families who only weeks earlier had children and siblings to hug were left with only photographs and memories. Still others were hovering over bedsides, watching as young men, women, and children endured painful surgeries and permanent disfiguration. All because two brothers, radicalized by jihadist websites, decided to place homemade bombs in backpacks near the finish line of one of the most prominent events in American sports, the Boston Marathon.

All of you in the Class of 2014 will never forget that day and the days that followed. You will never forget when you heard the news, where you were, or what you were doing. And when you return here, 10, 15 or 25 years from now, you will be reminded of it. The bombs exploded just 10 miles from this campus.

I read an article recently that said many adults don't remember much from before the age of 8. That means some of your earliest childhood memories may well be of that September morning simply known as "9/11."

You deserve better memories than 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombing. And you are not the only ones. In Syria, at least 120,000 people have been killed, not simply in battle, but in wholesale massacres, in a civil war that is increasingly waged across a sectarian divide. Violence is escalating in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Libya, in Egypt. And far more than was the case when you were born, organized violence in the world today is disproportionately concentrated in the Muslim world.

Another striking feature of the countries I have just named, and of the Middle East generally, is that violence against women is also increasing. In Saudi Arabia, there has been a noticeable rise in the practice of female genital mutilation. In Egypt, 99% of women report being sexually harassed and up to 80 sexual assaults occur in a single day.

Especially troubling is the way the status of women as second-class citizens is being cemented in legislation. In Iraq, a law is being proposed that lowers to 9 the legal age at which a girl can be forced into marriage. That same law would give a husband the right to deny his wife permission to leave the house.

Sadly, the list could go on. I hope I speak for many when I say that this is not the world that my generation meant to bequeath yours. When you were born, the West was jubilant, having defeated Soviet communism. An international coalition had forced Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. The next mission for American armed forces would be famine relief in my homeland of Somalia. There was no Department of Homeland Security, and few Americans talked about terrorism.

Two decades ago, not even the bleakest pessimist would have anticipated all that has gone wrong in the part of world where I grew up. After so many victories for feminism in the West, no one would have predicted that women's basic human rights would actually be reduced in so many countries as the 20th century gave way to the 21st.

Today, however, I am going to predict a better future, because I believe that the pendulum has swung almost as far as it possibly can in the wrong direction...

Keep reading.

And ICYMI, from Neo-Neocon, at Leg Insurrection, "Brandeis failure: Supporting women’s rights matters most when it’s politically difficult."

PREVIOUSLY: "Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Banished at #Brandeis."

With Eye on Midterms, Obama Pushes Women's Equity

From Alexis Simendinger, at RealClearPolitics.

It's a scam. The so-called pay gap disappears when you break it down using the ceteris paribus assumption.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Banished at #Brandeis

At WSJ, "The university yanks an honorary degree for Ayaan Hirsi Ali" (via Google):

Ms. Hirsi Ali is a well known controversialist and lives under death threats because she does not conceal her convictions, especially about the ties between violence and fundamentalist Islamism. If Ms. Hirsi Ali's critics support the practices she has either experienced or dedicated her life to erasing, such as forced marriage, female genital mutilation, honor killings, or Shariah Law, then they should say so.

Brandeis, a school founded after World War II to defend non-sectarian religious liberty, might also ask if its "core values" now include intolerance and the illiberal suppression of ideas. Our answer would be yes.

RTWT.

More from John Podhoretz, at Commentary, "The Shame of Brandeis."

And William Kristol is especially pissed off, at the Weekly Standard, "A Note to Supporters of Brandeis," and "Ayaan Hirsi Ali Speaks."

A must read, via Memeorandum.

PREVIOUSLY: "Brandeis University Withdraws Honorary Degree for Ayaan Hirsi Ali."

Leftist Grievance Industry and Anti-Authority Culture Damaging the Country

A great talking points memo from Bill O'Reilly's Monday show, "The grievance industry takes on momentum":



I covered both O'Reilly's main examples here, the Dartmouth occupation and the Isla Vista Riot --- both of which are fundamentally derived from the Democrat Party's grievance agenda of perpetual inequality demonization.

BONUS: The Other McCain on Dartmouth, "‘Diversity’ Debacle at Dartmouth: ‘Transformative Justice,’ Really?"

New York Police Officer Dies From Fire Injuries

At NYT, "Police Policy on Fires Is Questioned Amid Grief at Death of a New York Officer":

From the outside, there were few signs of a serious high-rise fire. No smoke pouring from windows, no commotion outside the Brooklyn apartment building on Sunday as two New York City police officers rushed inside, grabbing an elevator for the 13th floor.

But as the officers rode up, flames were already churning in the narrow, confined hallway. And when the elevator doors slid open, smoke fell upon them like an avalanche.

The officers radioed for help. Then they collapsed in the choking blackness.

On Wednesday, one of the officers, Dennis Guerra, died of severe smoke inhalation. His partner that day, Officer Rosa Rodriguez, was in critical condition, clinging to life.

For the Police Department, it was a sudden and stunning blow: the first death of an officer from fire in the line of duty in nearly three decades, and the first time one had been killed on the job in more than two years.

A 16-year-old charged with starting the blaze told detectives that he lit a mattress in the hallway because he was “bored,” the police said. He now faces charges that could include murder as the police force presses for the stiffest possible punishment.

I'm sure some great philosopher somewhere said "boredom kills."

It sure did in New York.

Oh, the suspect, Marcell Dockery, 16 years-old, is black. Folks at the NYPD want that f-cker to do some hard time in prison on a murder conviction. But hey, best not mention the racial dimension of the killing or anything. Might rile some tender leftist politically-correct sensitivities.

More at that top link.

Technology's Man Problem? Not So Fast

From Charlotte Allen, at LAT, "Technology's feminist problem."

Tax Day is Coming

My wife and I are having our taxes done this afternoon, so this is appropriate.

From Reason.tv:

Got Feminism?

It's all lulz.

At Twitchy, "‘Deny at your peril, patriarchy!’ Don’t miss this gut-busting mockery of ridiculous feminist signs [pics]."

They are? RT @trutherbot: pic.twitter.com/bkZ1H8q3Iz

— Heather (@hboulware) April 9, 2014

House Oversight Committee Recommends Contempt Charges Against Former IRS Operative Lois Lerner

I love this.

But what took so long? The lady's a criminal thug.

From Katie Pavlich, at Town Hall, "BREAKING: House Ways and Means Committee Votes to Refer Lois Lerner For Criminal Charges."

Also at the Brenner Brief, "House Oversight files Lois Lerner contempt resolution."

And back to Katie Pavlich, "BREAKING: Emails Show Lois Lerner Fed True the Vote Tax Information to Democrat Elijah Cummings" (via Memeorandum).

Still more, at Politico, "GOP says IRS’ Lois Lerner targeted Crossroads."

FLASHBACK: Dear Leader promising to get to the bottom of it all last May. This IRS conduct "is inexcusable." Okay, sure brother.

Correcting DeMint's Historical Confusion

Well, lefties are having a field day with this, "Jim DeMint Asserts The Federal Government Played No Role In Freeing the Slaves." (More at Google.)

But I think Peter Wehner makes some very useful comments, at Commentary:

So why call attention to these matters? In part, I think, because it’s important for conservatives to undo some of the confusion that DeMint created. But there’s another, somewhat deeper point to be made about the danger of approaching history and politics through an overly ideological lens. In this case Senator DeMint, a fierce critic of the federal government, has reinterpreted history in order to make it fit into his particular narrative. He seems so eager to refuse to give credit to the federal government for anything that he insists it didn’t play a role in the abolition of slavery. And that’s where he made perhaps his biggest error.

I worry, too, that some on the right invoke the Constitution without really understanding it and its history. For example, many conservatives who profess reverence for the Constitution are vocal and reflexive critics of compromise per se – despite the fact that the Constitution was itself a product of an enormous set of compromises.

But RTWT.

The federal government wasn't particularly large back in the 19th century in any case. Much of conservative reaction to the expansion of government is particularly critical of the post-1930s period in particular, for example, Barry Goldwater, in "Conscience of a Conservative." But I'm neoconservative, and while I can't stand the big government state socialism of the Obama administration and the regressive left, I'm not such a "small g" conservative to reject the many useful roles government plays in our lives. It's a complicated matter, but I think Wehner makes some interesting points. And shame on DeMint for botching basic facts about our founding and black liberation from slavery.

Twitter Redesign Looks a Lot Like Facebook

Well, they gotta cash in somehow, and Zuckerberg sure proved it can be done.

At the Verge.

Twitter’s redesign looks a lot like Facebook http://t.co/f1ary94hVC pic.twitter.com/elzlfzTxwh
— The Verge (@verge) April 9, 2014

Brooklyn Decker on 'CBS This Morning'

I would just prefer to see her in a bikini, lol.

Scapegoating the Koch brothers

I'm surprised the editors at LAT even published this letter, much less at the top of the letters section. From yesterday's paper, "Letters: Scapegoating the Koch brothers":

Re "In campaigns, Democrats target Kochs," April 4.

So the mudslinging begins.

Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch are no more guilty of buying influence or pushing a partisan agenda than are George Soros, big labor, the Hollywood elites or any number of others who wish to advance the Democratic Party's agenda.

In any case, why are the Democrats so worried about the Koch brothers? Is their collective memory so short that they've forgotten that President Obama raised and spent more than $1 billion in the 2012 election, and that he has twice eschewed public financing because of the restrictions it would impose on his own fundraising efforts?

W. Adrian Sauvageot
Tustin

More.

Is the Neo-Isolationist Moment Already Over?

From the always awesome Walter Russell Mead:

As the domestic political debate over these crises heats up, we are seeing a classic American pattern in action. America’s success abroad breeds stupidity and hubris in U.S. foreign policy. This hubris and stupidity leads to bad choices and magical thinking. We begin to believe, for example, that the world can become safer and more democratic even as we scale back our involvement. These bad choices and bad ideas then lead to huge global challenges. Those challenges ultimately spark smarter, more purposeful American engagement, usually after we’ve tried a few unsuccessful gambits first. That engagement finally leads to American success, which leads back again to American stupidity and hubris. And so on.

RTWT.