It’s Monday, July 17th, 2017…but before we begin, here’s another sure-fire solution to what ails the world from the most incompetent organization ever…outside of the Romney campaign:
“The United Nations banned nuclear weapons this month, in case you hadn’t heard, and all the children of the world joined hands and sang together in the spirit of harmony and peace, as Steve Martin once put it.
Ok, not that last part. But 122 non-nuclear U.N. member states—two-thirds of the total—did adopt the 10-page Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons this month. Nations that sign the treaty at the U.N. General Assembly in September will be committing not to “develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.” The treaty takes effect when 50 countries sign it.
…Kim Jong Un’s North Korea hasn’t declared where it stands on the treaty, perhaps because it’s too busy building more nuclear weapons and missiles to deploy them.But you’ll be pleased to know Iran is on board.This may have something to do with the treaty’s provision that allows “research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes,” without defining what “peaceful” means.
…If the U.N.’s record holds, this new treaty will take effect right about the time Kim Jong Un launches a nuclear attack.“
And there hasn’t been a less-effective pronouncement since the…
Though having gone back and listened to Martin’s monologue from the days when SNL was still about humor rather than Progressive propaganda, it strikes us Steve’s third wish…
…is far closer to what the U.N. is actually all about.
Now, here’s The Gouge!
First up, at the risk of incurring the severe displeasure of G. Trevor (who’s had all the Russian collusion he can stands, and he can’t stands no more!), courtesy of Townhall.com, David Harsanyi correctly concludes while…
“The New York Times recently reported that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin who claimed to have information that could harm Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The intermediary told Trump Jr. that the information came from high up in the Russian government — the prosecutor general of Russia, in fact, who is an appointee of Russian President Vladimir Putin (but, then again, aren’t they all).
At first, Trump Jr. claimed it was all a bunch of fake news.Once The New York Times contacted him regarding the emails corroborating its story, he took the initiative of releasing the four-page chain and feigned transparency. Despite Don Jr.’s posing, nothing in the email is exculpatory.In many ways, the full context is worse than the Times’ story. While I’m suremany campaigns — including the Clintons‘ — have dabbled in this kind of sordid effort, it’s still unethical.
…The GOP should condemn Don Jr.’s actions because they’re sleazy and dumb. But there is a long way to go before any responsible person starts making incendiary claims about treason.
That said, the Democrats, of course, immediately began offering the most severe condemnation, which will only make a legitimate concern another partisan clown show…
…Rep. Adam Schiff, who has always helped make a partisan mockery of the Russia meddling investigation, claims that the meeting is now being used against the Trump team as kompromat, or Russian-style political blackmail.I’m not sure why it’s so difficult to comprehend that some politicians voluntarily take a conciliatory position with our adversaries.It’s not as if the Iranians needed to blackmail President Barack Obama for him to appease them.
This situation doesn’t even rise to “collusion,” although, clearly, it’s worth investigating further. Meeting with someone, even a foreign someone, is not a crime.Nor is hearing something from a foreign person. Yet lots of people are getting excited about a line in the statute that governs foreign contributions to American campaigns. It says, “A foreign national shall not, directly or indirectly, make a contribution or a donation of money or other thing of value, or expressly or impliedly promise to make a contribution or a donation, in connection with any Federal, State, or local election.”
As law professor Orin Kerr has noted, simply relaying information to a campaign is not illegal. Foreigners can even work on campaigns. The phrase “contribution or donation,” Kerr points out, is referring to “an economic transaction: Funding the campaign.”
So, I’m not exactly sure what people want from Republicans at this point. Do Democrats want Republicans to call for a second independent counsel? Do they want Republicans to start up a third investigation in Congress? Or do they reallyjust want Republicans to be paralyzed?…”
The brilliant Michael Ramirez put’s things into proper perspective…
…while Steve Kelley highlights the MSM’s blatant bias in its relative treatment of actual acts of criminal malfeasance:
And while two wrongs still don’t make a right, we for one are not going to lend any aid to The Left’s attempt to derail this Administration’s efforts to undo the havoc Obama has wrought…particularly one based on (a) anonymous innuendo detailing acts of poor judgement rather than prosecutable crimes, and (b) an abiding distaste for The Donald.
So until someone provides corroborated proof to the contrary, we’re with Holman Jenkins…
…on this one. By the way, as Guy Benson points out:
“That “show me the man” quotation is an allusion to a telling, perfectly authoritarian quip from one of Stalin’s top associates, describing how someone deemed to be an enemy of the state canalways be railroaded, by hook or by crook.“
At least in a totalitarian state!
Since we’re detailing the characteristics of totalitarian states, NRO‘s David French offers a word to the unwise about an group who, like Pravda before them, long ago foreswore the truth in pursuit of a purely Progressive political agenda:
“I have a confession to make: I’m a hater lurking at a convention of haters. Our thoughtcrimes are clear and inexcusable. I’m at a meeting of Christians who believe the Bible is true, who believe that mankind is fallen and in need of a Savior, and who believe that we should live according to certain moral rules — including rules that govern sexual conduct.We believe that we should have the basic liberty to live according to that faith, and we also believe that other human beings should be able to live according to the different dictates of their consciences, so long as we all respect each other’s fundamental rights. To make matters even worse, I used to work for this hate group. I was a senior counsel, supervising a whole platoon of hateful litigators.
This may come as a shock to some readers, but there are apparently millions upon million of people like us in these United States. There are even — imagine this! — elected officials who share these vile beliefs. We tend to gather together once per week, we form groups that advocate for life and liberty, and we sometimes even attend conventions where we discuss legal and cultural trends. Fortunately, however, the mainstream media is on the case, ready to blow the lid off our secret covens of corruption…
…In fact, throughout the summit, the speakers and attendees advocated basic Christian principles. Bless those who persecute you. Love your ideological foes. Fight for the rights of others that you’d like to exercise yourself.
In other words, it was just like your basic Klan rally in rural Alabama, circa 1954.
Let’s be clear.The Southern Poverty Law Center, the “civil rights watchdog group” that ABC and NBC so prominently cite, has become a dangerous joke. It’s a joke because the very idea that Christians are members of a “hate group” merely because they advocate for orthodox Christian principles and the liberty to live those principles is so intellectually and ideologically bankrupt that it’s barely worth addressing.
Indeed, I’d encourage you to read the SPLC’s information page on the Alliance Defending Freedom. It consists of a collection of quotes where ADF attorneys explain the implications of an unrestrained sexual revolution on religious liberty, and it details how ADF files cases to protect the First Amendment rights of its clients. That’s it.No violence. No hate.Mere Christianity.
But the joke’s not funny anymore. In our polarized times, radicals use the SPLC’s hate-group designations to justify violence. Politicians and corporations use the designation to marginalize and punish good men and women. Not long ago the Family Research Council narrowly avoided mass murder when a man tried to attack its headquarters. He was inspired in part by the SPLC’s hate-group designation, and his plan was to shoot FRC employees and stuff Chick-fil-A sandwiches into their dead, bleeding mouths.
…The SPLC is using its speech to inflict harm, to express its own form of hate, and to spread misinformation and deception throughout the land.
What’s the solution? The media should stop using it as a source — unless the SPLC again starts focusing on its original valuable mission of exposing and combating racist terrorists and white supremacists. Enough is enough. The SPLC has lost its integrity. Media outlets who use the SPLC to assess Christian speech expose only their own bias and incompetence.There is no justification for its vicious hate.“
It’s not so much they lie, but that they lie so egregiously, and in such a consistently biased manner.
Speaking of consistently biased conduct, writing at the WSJ, Josh Sandbulte explains…
“In my neighborhood, I frequently walk past “shop local” signs in the windows of struggling stores. Yet I don’t feel guilty ordering most of my family’s household goods on Amazon. In a world of fair competition, there will be winners and losers.
But when a mail truck pulls up filled to the top with Amazon boxes for my neighbors and me, I do feel some guilt. Like many close observers of the shipping business, I know a secret about the federal government’s relationship with Amazon: The U.S. Postal Service delivers the company’s boxes well below its own costs.Like an accelerant added to a fire, this subsidy is speeding up the collapse of traditional retailers in the U.S. and providing an unfair advantage for Amazon.
…In 2001 the quantity of first-class mail in the U.S. began to decline thanks to the internet. Today it is down 40% from its peak levels, according to Postal Service data. But though there are fewer letters to put into each mailbox, the Postal Service still visits 150 million residences and businesses daily. With less traditional mail to deliver, the service has filled its spare capacity by delivering more boxes.
Other companies, such as UPS and FedEx, compete with the Postal Service to deliver packages. Lawmakers, to their credit, wanted a level playing field between the post office and its private competitors. The 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act made it illegal for the Postal Service to price parcel delivery below its cost.
But with a networked business using shared buildings and employees, calculating cost can be devilishly subjective. When our postal worker delivers 10 letters and one box to our home, how should we allocate the cost of her time, her truck, and the sorting network and systems that support her? What if the letter-to-box ratio changes?
In 2007 the Postal Service and its regulator determined that, at a minimum, 5.5% of the agency’s fixed costs must be allocated to packages and similar products. A decade later, around 25%of its revenue comes from packages, but their share of fixed costs has not kept pace.First-class mail effectively subsidizes the national network, and the packages get a free ride. An April analysis from Citigroup estimates that if costs were fairly allocated, on average parcels would cost $1.46 more to deliver. It is as if every Amazon box comes with a dollar or two stapled to the packing slip—a gift card from Uncle Sam…”
It’s not like Jeff can’t spare the cash!
Next, also courtesy of the WSJ, Fred Barnes relates something inquiring minds already know:
“Politics is a team sport, and Republicans are playing it poorly. They have one more chance in the Senate to repeal and replace ObamaCare—possibly their last hope for a victory.
Democrats are performing like a well-coached team. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has all 48 members of his caucus on board with saving ObamaCare at all cost. It’s been a successful strategy. It works for one reason: Republicans are divided. Their 52-48 majority in the Senate means they can lose two votes and still prevail, since Vice President Mike Pence is the tiebreaker. After promising to get rid of ObamaCare for the past seven years, it shouldn’t be difficult.
But as many as eight Republican senators opposed the first GOP bill, forcing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to come up with a revised version. While an improvement, it has encountered opposition too. Mr. McConnell is skillful in bringing senators together. But here his task is more difficult than usual because the dissidents don’t all agree on what’s wrong with the bill. Appeasing one senator may alienate another.
This is an example of why legislative success depends on operating as a team. You don’t abandon your team just because you don’t get everything you want (or want left out). You hold your nose and vote for an imperfect measure, sometimes merely because it’s politically beneficial and better than the alternative…”
We certainly understand principled opposition, but here’s the reality of Washington: “perfect” cannot be the enemy of “good”; or in this case, better. Republicans need to press the likes of Heller and Collins to the greatest degree possible, then depend upon Donald Trump and Tom Price to eviscerate Obamacare with executive orders and HHS directives.
Otherwise…
Turning now to The Lighter Side…
Finally, we’ll call it a day with a cross between News of the Bizarre and The Crime Blotter, as a Santa Clara Superior Court…
“After hearing emotional pleas from pet owners about their slain animals, a judge Friday sentenced a San Jose man who pleaded guilty to torturing and killing more than a dozen cats to 16 years behind bars.
However, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Sharon A. Chatman rejected the prosecution’s request that Robert Farmer be required to register as a sex offender on the grounds that the circumstantial forensic evidence was not strong enough for her to definitively conclude he had sexually abused one of the slain animals.Without the sex registration requirement, Farmer will serve his sentence in county jail, not prison, under a state program to reduce prison overcrowding.
Farmer, 26, has been jailed since October 2015 when San Jose police found him asleep inside his car with a dead cat next to him. Police later determined he killed 18 cats and injured three others in a gruesome crime spree that stretched over two months.He also was accused of hitting the grandson of his 83-year-old landlady in the head.
The courtroom was packed with the pet owners and their families, their neighbors in the Cambrian Park neighborhood and other animal lovers, many of whom were wearing purple ribbons with white cat paws. Many in the audience cried as several cat owners read statements.
…Farmer pleaded guilty in October to 20 counts of felony animal cruelty, one count of attempted felony animal cruelty, one count of simple battery and one count of using or being under the influence of a controlled substance, methamphetamine. With credit for good behavior since his arrest, he is set to spend 13 more years behind bars unless he violates rules or commits any crimes while in custody.
Farmer’s lawyer Wes Schroeder acknowledged in a sentencing memorandum that his behavior was “completely unacceptable,” but added that “it should be put in the context of Robert’s altered mental state created by the monstrosity of his methamphetamine addiction…”
Sooo…”the meth made him do it”; guess we must’ve missed the “feline-ious assault” episode of Breaking Bad.
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