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March 2019

POLITICS Comments turned off

Beto O’Rourke, The Ultimate Limousine Liberal Gen Xer, Announces For Prez He’s the farthest thing from self-made, but that can’t stop Vanity Fair from fawning all over him. With the obsessed media on his side, he’s entering the crowded field. By Liz Wolfe

By on March 15th, 2019

http://thefederalist.com/2019/03/14/beto-orourke-ultimate-limousine-liberal-gen-xer-announces-prez/

Late last night, failed Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke confirmed to El Paso’s KTSM that he’s seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. This morning, he added a video to the mix, and Twitter exploded with furry jokes and fanfare (the way politics should be?).

This is all on the coattails of an obnoxiously fawning Vanity Fair profile that basically portrayed O’Rourke as the dream Gen Xer, heaping praise on his “floor-to-ceiling bookshelf [that] contains a section for rock memoirs (Bob Dylan’s Chronicles, a favorite) and a stack of LPs (the Clash, Nina Simone)” before showing off his intellectual side: a “sizable collection of presidential biographies, including Robert Caro’s work on Lyndon B. Johnson.”

If the Dylan-LBJ mix wasn’t enough for you, Vanity Fair also waxed poetic about O’Rourke’s age: “Whereas Obama is from the tail end of the baby boom, Beto O’Rourke is quintessentially Generation X, weaned on Star Wars and punk rock and priding himself on authenticity over showmanship and a healthy skepticism of the mainstream.”

In other words, 2020 contender Beto is getting a heavy lift from the media. Expect this to continue throughout the election, unfortunately. Of course, perhaps his candor and coolness is a double-edged sword — a selling point that makes profiles of him oh-so-colorful that media ilk just can’t resist churning them out, and a cringey furtherance of limousine liberal stereotypes that make him far too mockable on Twitter.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Trump Loses the Senate A dozen Republicans send a message about the power to spend.

By on March 15th, 2019

A dozen Republicans defected, and the dissenters represent a broad cross-section of the Republican conference. Susan Collins of Maine and Mike Lee of Utah are seldom ideological comrades, but both voted yes. Other override votes included Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Utah’s Mitt Romney, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

The Senate voted Thursday to override President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the southern border, and Mr. Trump said even before the vote was over that he’ll veto the resolution. While the 59-41 vote won’t have immediate policy impact, the magnitude of the 12 GOP defections is a warning about the needless harm Mr. Trump is doing to himself and his party.

Democrats were united against the emergency, and let’s stipulate that their motives are largely partisan. “This will be a vote about the very nature of our Constitution, our separation of powers, and how this government functions henceforth,” said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, apparently without irony.

Where were Mr. Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when President Obama violated the separation of powers again and again to achieve his policy goals? Senate Democrats gave Mr. Obama a blank check on recess appointments, environmental and financial regulation, ObamaCare spending without appropriations, work permits for illegal immigrants, and much more. The courts later rebuked Mr. Obama on all of them.

The GOP opposition is more sincere and significant because it comes at some political cost. Mr. Trump has been banging away on Twitter that a vote to override is a vote for “open borders” and for Nancy Pelosi’s agenda. That’s false, but it’s never easy to vote against a sitting President of one’s own party on such a high-profile issue as immigration.

A dozen Republicans defected, and the dissenters represent a broad cross-section of the Republican conference. Susan Collins of Maine and Mike Lee of Utah are seldom ideological comrades, but both voted yes. Other override votes included Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Utah’s Mitt Romney, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi. These aren’t liberals.

Many of these Senators agree that the southern border deserves more funding, and even a wall, but they think Mr. Trump is abusing his authority to spend money for purposes that Congress hasn’t appropriated.

The GOP also rightly fears how a Democratic President would misuse “emergency” powers to promote policies that a GOP Congress refused to endorse. Several Senators who voted with Mr. Trump in this case nonetheless favor amending the National Emergencies Act to check the President’s discretion.

Mr. Trump put Senators running for election in 2020 in a particular bind. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Martha McSally of Arizona and Ben Sasse of Nebraska all voted with the President. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who had earlier said he’d vote to override the emergency, changed his mind and also voted with Mr. Trump. They clearly didn’t want to offend the President and his supporters. But the Senators have now created a political opening for their Democratic opponents. Mr. Trump is doing needless harm to his party’s chances of keeping Senate control in 2020.

Mr. Trump should be careful not to test the limits of GOP Senate loyalty. He’ll need those votes to counter House Democrats and sustain his foreign policy. Seven Republicans on Wednesday joined Democrats to vote for a resolution that aims to cut off U.S. involvement in Yemen. Mr. Trump will now soon have to veto that too.

Watch out at the White House if Republican Senators start feeling more liberated to show the President the same lack of consideration he’s showing them.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Netherlands: Ex-Muslims Get Threatened ‘Every Single Day’ Welcome to the new, multicultural Europe. Robert Spencer

By on March 15th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273159/netherlands-ex-muslims-get-threatened-every-single-robert-spencer

Three converts from Islam to Christianity who live in the Netherlands recently spoke about their experiences, and it’s clear that they’re not exactly finding diversity, in the form of mass Muslim migration into Europe, to be their strength.

An ex-Muslim from Kurdistan named Faraidoun Fouad recounted: “I converted in 1999. In 2002 God called me to reach out to my own people. Directly after my conversion to Christianity I received the first threats. People who I thought were my friends, became my enemies.”

Nor were his former friends all jihadis: “Even Muslims who are not very conservative told my wife that they would kill me.”

Fouad converted twenty years ago, but his Muslim ex-friends have never gotten used to the fact: “I receive threats every day. When I post something on Facebook, I often receive hateful reactions.”

Fouad’s experience was similar to that of another convert, a woman named Esther Mulder who fled Somalia in 1992. Though they had left the homeland, they brought its mores to the Netherlands; when Esther was 14, they told her she was about to be married off. What she wanted had nothing to do with it, so she ran away from home and lived in shelters. Finally she married a Dutchman and converted to Christianity.

The first time she entered a church, she was frightened: “I constantly looked around thinking: ‘What if one of my family members comes in or someone from Somalia?’”

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Israel Strikes Hamas After Rockets Fired From Gaza Hit Tel Aviv First rocket attack against Tel Aviv in five years prompts robust but measured Israeli response. Ari Lieberman

By on March 15th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273161/israel-strikes-hamas-after-rockets-fired-gaza-hit-ari-lieberman

Sirens echoed throughout Tel Aviv and its suburbs on Thursday as two rockets, Identified as Fajr-5 missiles, were fired from Gaza at Israel’s second largest city causing no injuries or damage. Five people were treated for shock. The rockets fell in open spaces. Iron Dome, Israel’s point-defense missile system, which calculates the rocket’s trajectory and pre-determines its flight path, did not launch to intercept. It was the first time a rocket was fired at Tel Aviv since 2014.

It’s difficult to say which Gazan group fired the rockets. Hamas, the terror group that governs Gaza immediately denied responsibility and said it would find and punish those responsible. A smaller terrorist group known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also denied responsibility. A PIJ spokesman called reports blaming its group for the attack as “baseless lies and claims.” The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine denied involvement of any of its operatives. There are also rogue Salafist and Islamist splinter groups that operate in Gaza and the possibility of their involvement cannot be discounted.

Last month, the PIJ showcased part of its rocket arsenal with boasts that its rockets are capable of reaching Tel Aviv and beyond. The PIJ stated that the rockets were manufactured with technical assistance from Iran.

Regardless of which terror gang fired the rockets, it is Hamas that controls what goes on in Gaza and the Israeli government’s policy is to hold Hamas accountable for belligerent actions originating from Gaza. Israel has applied the same doctrine to Syria’s warlord Bashar Assad, holding his regime responsible for any hostile fire emanating from Syria. It is a sound doctrine and one that deters governing hostile entities from using proxies to attack Israel while simultaneously and disingenuously denying responsibility.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

EU: Telling Europeans What to Think by Judith Bergman

By on March 15th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13864/eu-media-literacy

The above initiatives, of course, exist in addition to all the other measures that the EU has put in place to “guide” Europeans onto the path of proper thinking… which the untransparent and unaccountable online tech giants — Facebook, Google, Twitter and Mozilla — signed in October 2018, and their 2019 “Code of Conduct on countering illegal online hate speech online.”

In the same vein as China’s “reeducation camps” or the former Soviet Union’s “rehabilitation centers” that abused psychiatry for political purposes, Marine Le Pen in September was ordered to undergo psychiatric tests for tweeting the pictures, ostensibly to establish whether she “is capable of understanding remarks and answering questions”.

It is probably safe to say that the first victims of the EU’s media literacy policies will be diversity of opinion and free speech.

The first European Media Literacy Week, an initiative of the European Union, will take place March 18-22 in various European cities. The week is a new initiative by the European Commission, putatively “to underline the societal importance of media literacy and promote media literacy initiatives and projects across the EU”. The European Commission explains its policy of strengthening ‘media literacy’ within the EU — which could have been a noble and useful initiative — the following way:

“With the rapid rise of digital technology and its increasing use in business, education and culture, it is important to ensure everyone can understand and engage with digital media.

“Media literacy is vital for economic growth and job creation. Digital technologies are a key driver of competitiveness and innovation in the media, information, and communication technology sectors.”

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ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Middle East reality and the Palestinian issue Ambassador (Ret.) Yoram Ettinger

By on March 15th, 2019

https://bit.ly/2Jee60s

In 2019, the national security policy of all pro-US Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, other Gulf States, Egypt and Jordan – including their burgeoning ties with Israel – is a byproduct of the rapidly intensifying lethal threat posed to them by the still-raging Arab Tsunami, Iran’s Ayatollahs and Sunni Islamic terrorism.

The tectonic reality of the Middle East, in general, and the intensifying lethal threats to every Arab regime, in particular, compelled the Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain to convene in Amman, Jordan during January 30-31, 2019. They discussed the top priorities on their national security agenda: the clear and present threats of Iran’s Ayatollahs (whose subversive/terroristic/military involvement is expanding beyond Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain and eastern Saudi Arabia), the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS. No Palestinian representative was invited, nor was there a discussion of the Palestinian issue, which has always ranked at the bottom of inter-Arab priorities.

In fact, these six countries, in addition to Oman, respect Israel’s posture of deterrence (which would be abandoned if Israel were to retreat from the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria), and therefore they perceive Israel as the most effective “life insurance agent” in the region. In addition, they consider Israel a source of essential and advanced irrigation, agricultural, health, medical, telecommunications and cyber technologies and systems. Consequently, their defense, intelligence and commercial ties with Israel have expanded unprecedentedly.

In 2019, the pro-US Arab countries have realized that the well-documented Palestinian track record (e.g., intra-Arab betrayal, subversion and terrorism, collaboration with international terrorism, Saddam Hussein, the USSR, No. Korea and Nazi Germany) would produce a Palestinian state, which would exacerbate regional instability. A Palestinian state would provide a tailwind to Iran’s Ayatollahs, ISIS and Muslim Brotherhood terrorism, escalating the deadly threats to their own regimes, while advancing the national security interests of Russia, China and Turkey’s Erdogan, at the expense of vital US national security and homeland security interests.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

The Sudden Unpopularity of Neoliberal Centrists written by Uri Harris

By on March 14th, 2019

https://quillette.com/2019/03/14/the-sudden-unpopularity-of-neoliberal-

EXCERPT:…..” This is especially relevant with the mainstreaming of intersectionality as an analytical framework. Here, people are represented as being intersected by a number of oppressive systems, including capitalism. Now, some people have argued that intersectionality with all its many different systems of oppression, especially those related to race, gender, and sexuality, shift the focus away from class. (And thus from wealthy individuals and corporations.) This is true, but probably only for the short term. In the long term, it seems apparent that capitalism will become more and more central.

Ultimately, there’s a good argument that corporations and wealthy individuals who engage in modern social progressivism with its basis in critical theory are sawing the branch they’re sitting on. While they might themselves see no conflict between laissez-faire capitalism and social progressivism, they’re contributing to the build-up of a mainstream worldview that sees society as consisting of oppressive systems to be dismantled, and capitalism naturally fits at the top of the intersectional matrix.

Add to this a culture where attacks on privilege have become quite common and where people are fearful of being associated with it, and where anything that can be construed as a defence of privilege is considered unacceptable, and now imagine that this shifts from racial- and gender privilege to class privilege, even to a modest degree. I suspect we’re going to see more instances like this, where people like Schultz all of a sudden find themselves under attack by progressives and are blindsided by it.

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ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

A Carefully Miseducated Generation of Climate Warriors Dave Pellowe

By on March 14th, 2019

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/03/a-carefully-miseducated-generation-of-climate-warriors/

School students are being recruited and organised to strike from school tomorrow, 15 March. The website, schoolstrike4climate.com claims the purpose is “to tell our politicians to take our futures seriously and treat climate change for what it is – a crisis.”

After careful analysis of historical trends and with far more reliability than a United Nations’ “scientific consensus”, I’m prepared to boldly predict the political climate will not be warmed or cooled one-tenth of a degree by kids striking. Like all prophets of the apocalypse, the stamping and tramping of their furious little feet will have little impact in and on the real world. The Labor-Greens coalition will still be environmental extremists denying developing nations cheap, reliable electricity and aspiring to deliver Australians intermittent electricity at any cost. The Coalition will still present as lukewarm environmental realists while wooing voters from the centre-left with half measures of the Greens’ full-strength moonbattery.

Real grownups will observe there’s a reason schoolkids aren’t allowed to get married, sign contracts, fight for their nation, get a driver’s licence, drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, or vote on matters of national importance. Their developing brains aren’t mature enough to weigh the balance of evidence, consider all the consequences and make objectively rational decisions. They can barely cross the road safely or wear clothes properly. They are important, but they are children – undeveloped clumps of cells, if you prefer.

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POLITICS Comments turned off

Charles Lipson :The question isn’t if Joe Biden will screw up: it’s when Can anyone win the 2020 Democratic primary without destroying their chances in the general election?

By on March 14th, 2019

https://spectator.us/joe-biden-three-plusses-three-minuses/

Joe Biden seems on the verge of announcing he will run for president. He begins in a strong position, leading his primary opponent in the polls. His numbers, which are just shy of 30 percent, reflect his high name-ID and years as a party stalwart. When he does jump in, the first question is whether his lead will grow or shrink as competitors begin attacking his record and garner name recognition of their own.

Biden must smack his head every time he thinks about 2016. He would have been a stronger candidate than Hillary — not a very high bar — which means he might well have won the presidency. That’s far less likely this time around, and not only because Donald Trump has the advantages of incumbency and smooth sailing through the primaries. It’s also because Biden is no cinch to win the Democratic nomination.

Within the party, Biden holds three huge advantages, three disadvantages, and one major question mark. Let’s sort them out.

Two of his advantages are obvious: his association with President Barack Obama and his ability to relate to blue-collar voters. Although the party has moved left since Obama’s day, the former president is still the most popular Democrat, by far. That helps Biden since he is the candidate most closely associated with Obama. That’s a big f***ing deal, as Joe would put it. He also benefits from Obama’s legacy as a proven national winner.

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

Unmasking the College-Admissions Fraud The real scam has less to do with the wealthy cheaters who got caught than with the university system itself. Heather Mac Donald

By on March 14th, 2019

https://www.city-journal.org/college-admissions-cheating-scandal

The celebrity college-admissions cheating scandal has two clear takeaways: an elite college degree has taken on wildly inflated importance in American society, and the sports-industrial complex enjoys wildly inflated power within universities. Thirty-three moguls and TV stars allegedly paid admissions fixer William Singer a total of $25 million from 2011 to 2018 to doctor their children’s high school resumes—sending students to private SAT and ACT testing sites through false disability claims, for example, where bought-off proctors would raise the students’ scores. Singer forged athletic records, complete with altered photos showing the student playing sports in which he or she had little experience or competence. Corrupt sports directors would then recommend the student for admission, all the while knowing that they had no intention of playing on the school’s team.

None of this could have happened if higher education had not itself become a corrupt institution, featuring low classroom demands, no core knowledge acquisition, low grading standards, fashionable (but society-destroying) left-wing activism, luxury-hotel amenities, endless partying, and huge expense. Students often learn virtually nothing during their college years, as University of California, Irvine, education school dean Richard Arum writes in Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. They may even lose that pittance of knowledge with which they entered college. Seniors at Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Duke, and Berkeley scored lower in an undemanding test of American history than they did as freshmen, according to a 2007 study commissioned by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. College is only desultorily about knowledge acquisition, at least outside of the STEM fields (and even those fields are under assault from identity politics).

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