The Importance of Upholding the Constitution, the Right to Counsel and the Presumption of Innocence by Alan M. Dershowitz

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18175/dershowitz-upholding-constitution

[W]hen law professors such as Cornell University’s Michael Dorf — who is an acolyte, water-carrier and co-author of America’s most prominent constitutional hypocrite, Professor Laurence Tribe — set out to defame… anyone, for a principled representation of unpopular defendants, it becomes clear, and alarming, how much trouble the Constitution is in.

Dorf apparently does not remember the principle often attributed to Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

He also deliberately omits the fact that my “oeuvre” includes representing half of my clients on a pro bono basis and that many of my cases have focused on the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and the death penalty.

[T]he reader is given no idea even of how many people were included in this admittedly “unscientific poll,” or how they were selected.

Sometimes it takes an absurd event to illustrate the high cost of upholding crucial principles, such as the right to counsel. For nearly 60 years, I have tried to emulate John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Clarence Darrow, Thurgood Marshall, Edward Bennett Williams and others in the pantheon of my legal heroes, by representing, as they did, the most hated and vilified defendants. In making that career choice, I knew that I would be criticized by those who do not understand the constitutional right to counsel and the need for every defendant to receive zealous representation.

Call the Houthis What They Are — Foreign Terrorists by Richard Kemp

Following last week’s Abu Dhabi attack, Biden said he will consider reversing the decision. That would be the right move and he should do it immediately.

Biden’s moves were a classic example of the failure of appeasement. Inevitably, the Iranian ayatollahs were not won over by these and other US placations. Instead they have become increasingly hard-nosed, demanding more US compromises in exchange for fewer restrictions on their nuclear weapons project — a typical Iranian regime response to perceived weakness.

Ansar Allah still represents a direct terrorist threat to the US. In the past it has taken American citizens hostage and in 2016 fired anti-ship missiles at US vessels off the coast of Yemen…. Ansar Allah also jeopardises wider American interests in the region, as well as its allies.

So far the West has proved impotent in helping to end this devastating war, with all efforts at agreeing a negotiated settlement frustrated largely due to Ansar Allah’s intransigence. Its violent offensive against Yemen’s Marib Governorate that began last February is further evidence that — with Iranian backing — it continues to seek only the path of war. As events since Biden became president have shown, appeasement is the opposite of the answer.

It is essential that the US renew its strong opposition to Iran’s expansionist actions, countering them at every opportunity…. An implacably hard-line stance towards these terrorists is essential to reassure US allies that there are consequences for violence against them.

Re-designation would not prevent Iran from continuing to fuel the Yemen insurgency but it would send a message of US strength to Tehran, one sorely needed in the months following the Afghanistan debacle and the administration’s open desperation to renew the nuclear deal at almost any price.

The US administration could overcome this [problem of delivering humanitarian aid] by granting broad licenses and waivers to organizations and companies operating in and around Yemen, enabling essential supplies including food, fuel and medicines to be delivered. This would also need to take account of Ansar Allah’s demands for bribes from aid agencies, and their propensity to steal aid for their own profit. This is a challenge the US administration has so far side-stepped but must now clarify.

No doubt such a licensing regime would introduce further complications to the already desperate and fraught humanitarian programmes — on top of the theft of aid by Ansar Allah. But such additional bureaucratic effort is a price that needs to be paid for the wider political and strategic benefits in countering Iranian and Ansar Allah violence.

Suddenly, It’s No Longer ‘Deeply Dangerous’ To Talk About Rigged Elections

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/01/26/suddenly-its-no-longer-deeply-dangerous-to-talk-about-rigged-elections/

It wasn’t long ago that we were told that President Donald Trump’s questioning the legitimacy of the election wasn’t just unfounded, but a serious threat to the future of the nation.

As one commentator put it, by fanning the specter of election fraud, Trump was “sowing doubt not just about the 2020 election, but whether America’s voting system – the foundation of American democracy – is sound … In a democracy, where governing power is rooted in the consent of the governed, this is deeply dangerous.”

Yet here is President Joe Biden, predicting that the next election can’t be trusted, based on far less evidence than Trump had. And the press is celebrating him for it.

“I think it would easily be illegitimate,” said Biden at his marathon press conference last week when asked about the midterm elections (that Republicans are expected to sweep). “The increase in the prospect of being illegitimate is in proportion to not being able to get these reforms passed.”

Biden was referring to a bill push by Democrats that would federalize state elections and make it easy for the left to manipulate vote totals. In the bizarro world of the Democratic-media complex, this is called a “voter rights” bill. And efforts by Republicans to enact prudent requirements such as voter ID, registration roll maintenance, vote harvesting bans, and the like, are described as voter suppression.

Melbourne University Circles the Green Drain Tony Thomas

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2022/01/melbourne-university-circles-the-green-drain/

About 6200 final-year secondary students from 700 schools have been invited to start at Melbourne University (UoM) this year, UoM being a world 30-40th top-ranked university. Good luck to the kids. They’ve suffered eleven school-years of climate doomism; the university will dish out more of it. Two professors in UoM publication Pursuit, for example, see the prospect of another 0.5degC warming by 2030 as a “shrieking emergency siren”.

UoM’s 2020 annual report (p88) says (emphasis added)

Planning for a suite of online modules for all commencing undergraduate students … commenced in 2020 … The Sustainable campuses and communities module, developed in 2020, explores the impact of humans on climate and the environment.

UoM is awash in “sustainability”, code for anti-conservative politics and zero-emission fantasies. A few months after the toothless 2015 Paris accord, the university adopted its “Sustainability Charter” , and then came the 2017-20 plan “Integrating action on sustainability across all areas of institutional activity for the first time”. UoM’s goal is to force Sustainability dogma across every campus, every faculty, every subject and every cafeteria (vegan synthetic steaks, anyone?).[i] Faculty who resist this politicising of their subjects – and the university admits such hold-outs exist (p2) – are being counselled on right-think.

Hollywood Wokeness Is Becoming a Parody of Itself Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2022/01/hollywood-wokeness-becoming-parody-itself-daniel-greenfield/

If only someone in the industry had the guts to actually give this garbage the ridicule it deserves.

Actor Peter Dinklage is questioning the upcoming live-action remake of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” saying it “makes no sense” why Disney is retelling the “backwards story.”

“No offense to anybody, I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White. You’re still telling the story of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.’ Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me,” said Dinklage.

“You’re progressive in one way and you’re still making that f—ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f— are you doing man?” Dinklage added. “Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I’m not loud enough.”

“All love and respect to the actress and the people who thought they were doing the right thing, but I’m just saying, what are you doing?” the actor added. “And if you tell the story of Snow White with the most f—— up, cool, progressive spin on it, let’s do it. All in. But I don’t know.”

Virginia Shuts Down Plans for Race-Based Math Curriculum By Eric Lendrum

https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/25/virginia-shuts-down-plans-for-race-based-math-curriculum/

On Monday, the Virginia Department of Education (DOE) canceled plans to roll out a new form of math curriculum that would focus heavily on race relations.

As reported by the Daily Caller, the DOE website no longer has a page for the planned Virginia Math Pathways Initiative (VMPI), which was previously set up by the administration of Governor Ralph Northam (D-Va.). All that remains on the page now is a message saying that “The Virginia Department of Education has ended the Virginia Math Pathways Initiative (VMPI) project. Please see the Mathematics Instruction page, if your browser does not refresh.”

The move was applauded by parents’ rights groups in the state of Virginia, including the watchdog group Parents Defending Education (PDE), which released a statement explaining how “ideologues of critical race theory, including Ibram X. Kendi, target advanced education, including math and advanced diploma programs, as emblematic of ‘systemic racism,’ and thus they are being targeted by activists around the country for elimination.”

“For the last year, local school boards and the media have insisted that critical race theory is not in our schools, dumbing our kids down,” said PDE’s Asra Nomani. “But it is in our schools, putting us in a race to the bottom, especially with math and sciences.”

“Thankfully, the Youngkin administration with Superintendent Jillian Balow and Assistant Superintendent Elizabeth Schultz have eliminated the Virginia Math Pathways Initiative, which was going to deny students advanced math in middle school,” Nomani continued. “This war on merit must end.”

THE PRESIDENT AND THE PRESS

Biden’s Pathetic Energy Theater By Mark Antonio Wright

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/bidens-pathetic-energy-theater/

The New York Times reports that President Biden has a plan to counteract Russia’s energy stranglehold on Europe:

The Biden Administration announced on Tuesday that it was working with gas and crude oil suppliers from the Middle East, North Africa and Asia to bolster supplies to Europe in coming weeks, in an effort to blunt the threat that Russia could cut off fuel shipments in the escalating conflict over Ukraine.

The EU currently imports about a third of its oil and gas from Russia. And, of course, the Germans have been busily making the situation worse by shuttering their nuclear-powered electric plants and pushing for the opening of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would bypass Ukraine and further entrench German dependence on Vladimir Putin’s petro power.

“We expect to be prepared to ensure alternative supplies covering a significant majority of the potential shortfall,’’ a Biden administration official told the Times.

And if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. . .

New York Judge Strikes Down Governor Hochul’s Mask Mandate By Brittany Bernstein

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/new-york-judge-strikes-down-governor-hochuls-mask-mandate/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=featured-content-trending&utm_term=first

A New York State Supreme Court judge on Monday ruled that Governor Kathy Hochul’s mask mandate for schools and other public locations is unconstitutional.

Judge Thomas Rademaker found that the governor and the state health commissioner did not have the authority to enact a mask mandate without the state legislature, given that the governor no longer has emergency powers.

The mask mandate has been in place since mid-December, when the state saw a surge in the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

“There can be no question that every person in this State wishes, wants and prays that this era of COVID ends soon and they will surely do their part to see that is accomplished,” Rademaker wrote in his decision. “However, enacting any laws to this end is entrusted solely to the State Legislature. While the intentions of Commissioner Bassett and Governor Hochul appear to be well aimed squarely at doing what they believe is right to protect the citizens of New York State, they must take their case to the State Legislature.”

The ruling comes from a state Supreme Court based in Nassau County, which is a trial court. The New York Court of Appeals is akin to a more traditional “Supreme Court” in terms of authority, in that it is the state’s highest court.

 

The Bitter Fruit Of Pandemic Paranoia

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/01/25/the-bitter-fruit-of-pandemic-paranoia/

One media report says “the U.S. economy dropped down to a slower gear in January” due to the Omicron variant. But that’s being overly charitable. This is President Joe Biden’s economy. And his party’s. Leaving them in charge of federal policy beyond 2022 will lead to years if not decades of regret.

Surveys of senior business executives provide “the first clear indication of the damage done to the U.S. economy in the first month of the new year,” MarketWatch said Monday. “A ‘flash’ index of service-oriented companies tumbled to an 18-month low of 50.9 from 57.6 in the final month of 2021 … a similar gauge of manufacturers dropped to 55 from 57.7 in December – a 15-month low.”

The article goes on to say “Omicron clearly dented the economy in January,” as “millions” missed work “and the virus disrupted already strained supply chains.” The hardest punches connected on the jaws of “restaurants and other businesses that ‘serve’ customers directly.”

It didn’t have to be this way.

Biden swore he was going to shut down the virus but not the economy. The former was a promise no one could possibly keep. The latter, however, was easily reachable.