It’s Monday, July 2nd, 2018…but before we begin, the editors at NRO speak for us as they bid farewell to bad rubbish in a black robe:

Good Riddance, Justice Kennedy

 

While it is true that Justice Anthony Kennedy was a disappointment to conservatives, the observation misses the point. Kennedy did not owe conservatives decisions that they liked. What all Americans deserved from him was the conscientious application of the law. That they did not get it is the true indictment of his time on the Supreme Court.

Again and again, Kennedy made rulings that aggrandized the power of the Court and of himself as its swing justice. No justice, right or left, was more willing to substitute his judgment for that of elected officials and voters. (Though Darth Ginsburg Red Sonia have to been close seconds!) No justice was less willing to tie himself down to clear rules or a legal philosophy that would constrain him in future cases, let alone rules or a philosophy that bore a plausible relation to the Constitution. We moved toward a system of government no Founder intended, in which his whim determined policy on a vast range of issues.

Some of Kennedy’s critics said that Kennedy had set himself up as our “philosopher king,” but the term suggests a level of sophistication in thought that he did not evidence. The trademark of a Kennedy opinion was a verbal effusion that gestured toward profundity without overcoming confusion. Most notoriously, he used an abortion case to opine that “at the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” Nobody who ratified the Constitution or its relevant amendments thought in such terms. Nor would any of it be a legal defense against a parking ticket.

Kennedy’s lack of real guiding principles had the happy consequence that he sometimes voted for the right legal outcome — and even sometimes concurred in opinions that reached the right outcome for the right reasons. But we hope that his successor will have a much stronger sense of what fidelity to the law requires. And any plausible Trump nominee will be an improvement.

The only positive thought we can muster regarding what was one of The Gipper’s few great blunders is to hope Kennedy doesn’t let the door hit him in his brain on the way out.

In the meantime, stay tuned, ‘cuz we ain’t seen…

…NUTHIN’ yet!!!

Now, here’s The Gouge!

First, here’s a real surprise, courtesy of the editors of the WSJ:

North Korea Keeps Enriching Uranium

Troubling new evidence that Kim Jong Un isn’t honoring his promises.

 

“New satellite photos show that Kim Jong Un is continuing to develop his nuclear weapons program, and U.S. intelligence sources say they believe North Korea has increased its production of nuclear fuel at multiple sites. This wasn’t supposed to happen after the Donald Trump-Kim summit last month in Singapore.

In a related late-breaking development, the Journal is also reporting…

North Korea Expands Key Missile-Manufacturing Plant

New satellite imagery indicates Pyongyang is pushing ahead with weapons programs even as it pursues dialogue with Washington

 

That’s “Sucker”, with a capital “D”…as in “Donald”!

By the way, we voted “Not a snowflake’s chance in Hell” at our poll at the top right of the page.

Next up, as Chris Reeves reports at Townhall.com…

CNN, Capitol Gazette Columnist Speculate That Trump’s Criticism of News Media Inspired Mass Shooting

 

“On Friday morning’s broadcast (Note the time and date of the tweet above.) of “CNN New Day,” co-anchor John Berman brought on Terry Smith, a contributing columnist for the Capitol Gazette, to talk about yesterday’s horrific shooting at the newspaper’s main office in Annapolis. After discussing the crime and the five victims who lost their lives in detail, Berman and his guest went on to baselessly speculate that President Trump’s harsh criticism of the mainstream news media could have inspired the shooter to commit mass murder.

At the end of the interview, Smith concluded that regardless of whether Trump’s rhetoric was directly to blame for the mass shooting, it was certainly evidence that the Trump administration has been waging a “full-scale war on the press and…the First Amendment.”

Berman started the discussion of Trump’s anti-media comments and their potential connection with yesterday’s shooting:

“Look, you’d have to be blind and have not listened to anything for the last couple years to have not witnessed the changing tenor in this country. Do you think that played a role here? Or do you fear it puts journalism at risk?”

Smith responded with an emphatic “yes” before going on qualify his answer and walk it back somewhat, saying that Trump’s rhetorical contribution to Thursday’s massacre was “speculative”:

“It’s totally speculative what effect that had on Ramos, the shooter, obviously. But let’s face it, the atmosphere has changed. It’s acrimonious. It’s — there’s a wide attack on the media going on. And we’re in an era of repeated mass shootings. Did either of those facts stimulate the shooter to do what he did yesterday? I cannot say…”

Then why are you, in so many words, still saying it?!?  Fact is, Smith’s claim he cannot still doesn’t stop him from nonetheless suggesting, in the strongest terms, Trump’s attacks on an undeniably biased Fourth Estate were somehow linked to a shooting irrefutable facts quickly made clear was years in the making:

“…According to an unreported 2015 opinion filed in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, Ramos pleaded guilty to criminal harassment in July 2011. Five days later, an article about the case appeared in The Capital, one of Capital Gazette’s publications. The story detailed accusations by a woman who said Ramos harassed her online and off for months, calling her employer and trying to get her fired. The woman eventually went to the police and Ramos pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of harassment in 2011.

The Twitter account that matches Ramos’ name began tweeting about Capital Gazette several months after the conviction.

In July 2012, Ramos filed suit against Capital Gazette for defamation, according to the 2015 court filing…In 2012, a judge dismissed the lawsuit on the basis that “there is absolutely not one piece of evidence, or an assertion by you that the statement [in the article] was false.”“

As Mollie Hemingway notes at Laura Ingraham’s Angle, the MSM’s continued falsification of the facts regarding this tragedy portrays the Press precisely as The Donald describes:

Think about it: how exactly should or could one describe a body, nominally tasked with unbiased reporting, which not only refuses to relate the truth, but knowingly, and with evident malice aforethought, misrepresents it?!?

They’re sure as shootin’ not PRO-American…at least, not the America the Founding Fathers envisioned.

Here’s a case in point, courtesy of an item from The Oregonian:

Portland Police revoke permit, declare riot as protesters clash downtown

 

“Portland Police declared a riot Saturday after tensions between the right-wing Patriot Prayer group and local anti-fascist activists came to a head and broke out in violence.

The afternoon began with a permitted rally at Terry Schrunk Federal Plaza organized by Joey Gibson, U.S. Senate candidate for Washington and leader of the right-wing, Vancouver-based group. A counter-demonstration by masked local anti-fascist groups gathered nearby among a heavy police presence. Officers seized weapons such as utility knives, clubs and chemical sprays, detaining several protesters early on.

Portland Police made four arrests during the demonstrations, none of them connected to the events of the day. Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, 22, and Donovon Flippo, 23, were arrested upon arriving at Terry Schrunk Plaza for an alleged assault in Portland earlier in the month. Luiz Marquez, 46, was lodged in the Multnomah County Jail on charges of theft and assault for the June 3 protest that also saw four others arrested. And Matthew Braddock, 37, was arrested on charges of robbery and assault for an investigation that began May 31.

Things turned ugly shortly after 6 p.m., when Patriot Prayer protesters spilled into Third Avenue to begin their permitted march through the streets of Portland.

Antifascist counter-demonstrators immediately began lobbing eggs, half-empty water bottles and firecrackers at the conservative marchers, prompting federal police to fire paintballs filled with pepper spray into the crowd. Portland police said four people were struck by the projectiles and had to be taken to the hospital. An officer was also struck and taken to the hospital. The two groups continued heckling each other even as police intervened.

The bureau declared a riot and revoked the march permit soon after police said they witnessed several instances of assault and other criminal activity…”

Sputnik News misrepresented the facts even further: 

“On Saturday, members of Patriot Prayer, a right-wing US group based in Portland, Oregon, assaulted anti-fascist protesters with wooden and PVC pipe flag poles in the city’s downtown until Portland police deemed the clash a riot and arrested four protesters.

…Although police officers confiscated objects from the anti-fascist group that could be used as weapons, including clubs and knives, law enforcement did not seize the wooden flag poles brandished by the Patriot Prayer cabal, who then used those to beat anti fascist protesters, Slate reported.“

The writers must be either ignorant of reality, or counted among those so blind they will not see.  In all seriousness, everything about this “report” screams one of two things: a complete lack of knowledge or inalterable bias.

Given available photographs, we won’t be sending Patriot Prayer…

…a cent of our hard-earned dollars, as frankly, we believe you can tell a book by its cover.  And this edition is neither about patriotism nor prayer.

Still, regardless of their politics or theology, under Oregon law, Patriot Prayer was granted a valid permit to assemble.  Their opposition, not having bothered to follow the law, was not likewise enabled.  Yet, despite having been stripped of items we’d never even thought of bringing to a Tea Party rally, the “local anti-fascist activists” managed to begin “lobbing eggs, half-empty water bottles and firecrackers at the conservative marchers, prompting federal police to fire paintballs filled with pepper spray into the crowd“.  At which crowd: the lawfully enabled “right-wing” marchers…or the “local anti-fascist activists“?!?

How can permitted marchers be considered “protestors“, or those who “lobbed eggs, half-empty water bottles and firecrackers“, after having been stripped of “objects…that could be used as weapons, including clubs and knives“ be termed “counter-protestors?!?

Only in the Bizarro World of Progressive politics…to which The Donald is thankfully taking a wrecking ball!!!

As Michael Goodwin notes at The New York Post…

The Left needs to face reality: Trump is winning

 

Turns out he was right!

“To understand the madness gripping American leftists, try to see the world through their eyes. Presto, you’re now part of the raging resistance.

Like the Palestinians who mark Israel’s birth as their nakba, or tragedy, you regard Donald Trump’s 2016 victory as a catastrophe. It’s the last thing you think of most nights, and the first thing most mornings. You can’t shake it or escape it. Whatever you watch, listen to or read, there are reminders — Donald Trump really is president. You actually believe The New York Times is too nice to him, so you understand why a Manhattan woman urged a reporter there to stop covering Trump to protest his presidency.

And where the hell is Robert Mueller? He was supposed to save us from this nightmare — that’s what Chuck Schumer banked on. Well?

You spend your tax cut even as you rail against the man who made it happen. And you are pleased that cousin Jimmy finally got a job, though you repeat the daily devotional that Barack Obama deserves credit for the roaring economy. And now this — Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring, and Trump gets another Supreme Court pick. The court might tilt right for the rest of your life. He’s winning.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!

In a nutshell, our visit to the tortured mind of a Trump hater explains everything from Saturday’s mass marches to why a Virginia restaurant owner declared No Soup for Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Their loathing for Trump is bone-deep and all consuming. This is war and they take no prisoners.

For most marchers, border policies offer a chance to vent. They didn’t make a peep when Obama did the same thing.

If children are their main concern, they could help the 23,000 New York City kids living in shelters. Or they could have attended the funeral of Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, the innocent Bronx teen hacked to death by a Dominican gang.

Instead, they give in to Trump Derangement Syndrome, which causes them to immediately and absolutely adopt the opposite position of the president’s — facts and common sense be damned.

Alas, they may look back on the last few months as the good old days. For Trump, despite his stumbles and the Mueller shadow, is finding a political sweet spot…”

Actually, we think they know he’s winning…which is precisely, as the great Stilton Jarlsberg so accurately observed…

As one wag opined…

For us, certainly not all of the time, and perhaps not even most of the time…but enough of the time!  And while Trump’s winning, Liberals, when not engaged in physical violence or personal attacks of the most vicious nature, are reduced to…

Most importantly, his last name’s not Clinton!!!

And in our This is What Passes for Reporting?!? segment, here’s a headline from FOX News which belies the facts accompanying the story, and is, unfortunately, all-too representative of the shoddy writing and reporting which is the inevitable result of trying to fill the constant 24/7 news cycle:

Shark drags woman, 34, into crocodile-infested waters after biting her arm

 

“…Melissa Brunning, 34, was on a yacht in the remote Kimberley region in the northwest part of the country, located about 1,550 miles north of Perth, when she tried to hand-feed up to four tawny nurse sharks swimming around her boat. Brunning told the West Australian that she didn’t realize she shouldn’t hand feed a shark, until the animal became “like a Hoover,” sucking her right index finger into its mouth full of rows of razor-sharp teeth.

“I think the shark was in shock as much as I was … the only way I can describe it is this immense pressure and it felt like it was shredding it off the bone,” she told the paper. “I came up and I was like, ‘I’ve lost my finger, my finger’s gone.’” The shark also pulled her into the water of Dugong Bay, which is inhabited by saltwater crocodiles that can grow up to 23 feet long and weigh more than a ton, according to Sky News.

…Brunning sustained cuts, a fracture, a torn ligament and a bad infection from the bite, but did not lose her finger.

The 34-year-old told the West Australian the incident was “completely my fault,” and “just a blonde doing a stupid thing.” “It’s not the shark’s fault at all, but it could have been a lot worse,” she told the paper, adding, “I’m not a shark victim…I have full respect for sharks, I think they’re incredible. I’ve always had the opinion that when you’re in the water, they’re top of the food chain, it’s their domain.”“

Soooo…other than (1) the nurse shark bit her finger, not her arm; (2) she appears to have  fallen into the water rather than been dragged, at least from the video (and immediately retrieved); and, (3) despite the waters of Dugong Bay being “infested” with saltwater crocs, none were visible or even reported in the vicinity, the headline was accurate. 

Here’s the juice: when it comes to shark “attacks”, an arm makes a better headline than an index finger, “dragged” gets more clicks than “fell”,…

…and despite the crocs having no pertinence whatsoever to the story (the writer might just as well have mentioned the “potential” presence of great white sharks, box jellyfish or highly-venomous sea snakes!) their mention makes the story more interesting.  So what if the facts get mangled in telling the tale.

As the editor of the Shinbone Star told Ranse Stoddard, the man who “shot” Liberty Valance,…

We don’t know what’s worse: that this benighted bimbo actually thought you should hand-feed a shark…or that she lived to further dilute the human gene pool.

Which brings us, appropriately enough, to The Lighter Side:

Finally, we’ll call it a wrap with another tasty tale torn from the pages of The Crime Blotter:

Woman bites off part of man’s ear at Macomb County Chinese restaurant

 

“…According to deputies, they were called to China 1 Restaurant in Mt. Clemens around 9:40 p.m. When they arrived, they found a man with his ear partially bitten off and a woman with a large bump on her forehead.

Deputies say 24-year-old Jade Anderson walked into the restaurant complaining about her order. She was complaining to the owners, who are also the victims in the assault. Due to a language barrier, the victim’s son translated what Anderson was saying to his parents. That’s when Anderson allegedly pushed the son and threw her food onto the floor. She then started assaulting the female victim, and the male victim stepped in to protect his wife.

That’s when Anderson started assaulting the man. As she was pushed out of the store, she bit the man on the ear, partially detaching it.

…Police took her into custody and the man was taken to the hospital. Deputies also say Anderson left a small child at her home unsupervised…”

We, irrespective of our race, have been served some bad food in our time…primarily undercooked french fries from Mickey D’s.  Nothing was so bad it prompted us to leave any child, let alone a “small” one, at home to complain.

Sorry, but there’s more afoot here than bad Chinese take-out.

Magoo