Saturday, October 31, 2020

Biden, Never

 National Review

On Election Day, this #NeverBiden voter will vote.


. . . "It is one thing to exaggerate your class standing, to manufacture teen tough-guy stare-downs at the public pool. But this is a wholly different strata of lying in which Biden engaged. Nearly 30 years after his wife’s death, he began telling audiences that Dunn had been drinking, that he had had the old liquid lunch (I wrote about this for NR last year). The Dunn family called out Biden — the boozed-up story was a lie. It denigrated their late dad, who lived out his years bowed by the heaviness of the tragedy. Biden ignored repeated requests to end the fictional death tale. Eventually he stopped (without apologizing). But he should never have started.

"Joe Biden embellished a profound tragedy, he persisted at it, he repeatedly lied in the face of all known evidence, his exaggerations pained actual people, whose cease-and-desist requests were ignored for years. To be Joe Biden means at times to be a twisted Walter Mitty, a contriver who thrills to go down fantastical alleyways. His thought processes, his motivations, his objectives — it can combine, and does, to produce a deeply disturbing package."

. . . 

"A few years later, still the Senate Committee’s chairman, Biden outdid his Bork performance when he oversaw the lurid confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas, which the nominee aptly described as a “high-tech lynching.” Among his many unctuous acts, Biden’s eager and prolonged questioning of Anita Hill on things explicit and pornographic brought at least one viewer to tears, bemoaning how low this hack and his sidekicks had brought the Republic." . . .

Motion for Justice Barrett to Recuse Is Withdrawn

Volokh Conspiracy

Attorneys for Luzerne County are no longer asking the newest justice to recuse from Pennsylvania election litigation. 

"Earlier today, attorneys for Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, filed a notice of withdrawal of their prior motion seeking the recusal of Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett from  Republican Party of Pennsylvania v. BoockvarAs I noted here, after the initial motion was submitted, the Luzerne County Council voted in support of withdrawing the motion.

"The notice of withdrawal makes no mention of the County's vote. It reads as follows:

Given the Supreme Court's safety protocols, I understand that the Motion to Recuse which was electronically submitted on October 27, 2020, has not yet been officially filed. Given the Supreme Court's refusal to expedite consideration of the petition for a writ of certiorari, thus allowing the Order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to stand presently, we therefore request that the Motion be considered withdrawn.

"The docket for the case now indicates that the prior motion was not accepted for filing.

"For reasons I explained here, I do not believe the applicable standards or relevant precedent supports Justice Barrett's recusal, though each justice ultimately decides whether to recuse in a given case."

Voters’ Guide to 2020 Ballot Initiatives

 Reason 

Voters' Guides on ballot proposals from across the nation to help voters as they research and make decisions on these initiatives.

"Voters planning to participate in the 2020 election have more to consider than who they will vote for in the highly contentious presidential election. In addition to the election of national, state, and local leaders, this year, voters in many states have a number of ballot initiatives to consider. Statewide ballot initiatives typically allow voters to decide on changes to their state constitutions and laws.

"Reason Foundation’s policy analysts have created Voters’ Guides examining over 40 different ballot proposals from across the nation to help voters as they research and make decisions on these initiatives. These guides aim to:

  • Provide plain-English explanations of what a given ballot initiative would do, stripping away the jargon and complex language that can make many of them hard to parse through.
  • Fairly summarize the pro and con arguments being made, putting an emphasis on what each side puts forward as their strongest arguments but stripping out ad-hominem and attack arguments so it stays focused on substantive policy arguments.
  • Provide an overview of the key issues involved, summarizing what data and research say about the arguments of both sides, flagging experience other states may have had with similar laws, and offering other information that might help voters decide about the initiative.


Ed Markey fails his oath of office in his vile attack on Amy Coney Barrett

Chris J. Krisinger

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

" Among the many Democrats throwing fits over Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation, one glaringly stood out.  Sen. Ed Markey, the Democrat from Massachusetts known for his liberal progressive bona fides, issued a bitter judgment of Barrett's judicial philosophy in a Senate floor speech hours before her confirmation last Monday evening.  He specifically took aim at Barrett's embrace of constitutional "originalism," which is the theory that the Constitution's text ought to be given the original public meaning that it would have had at the time it became law.
"Markey then took to Twitter.  "Originalism is racist.  Originalism is sexist.  Originalism is homophobic.  Originalism is just a fancy word for discrimination."

"With that tweet, Markey has essentially said our nation's Constitution is "racist."  By his logic, any effort to understand it, and understand its words at the time they were written, is itself racist, sexist, and bigoted, thereby implying that our Constitution itself is imbued with those traits.  Markey's words are no less than a modern-day challenge to the primacy of the document as the foundation of our national rule of law and system of government, which can then only be construed as attempting to undermine the foundation and efficacy of our constitutional republic.

"Progressives like Markey have long derided the theory of "originalism," often arguing that the Constitution is an imperfect document written during a different time in American history and should be interpreted based on the "spirit of law" rather than the written word.  But Markey's attack takes progressives' animus toward the Constitution and its rights contained to new levels." . . .

Senator Ed Markey Slams Judicial ‘Originalism’ as ‘Racist,’ ‘Sexist,’ and ‘Homophobic’



High Noon in America: Will You Fight or Hide?

The question is whether the American people will back the president by getting out to vote. 


Jeffrey Folks . . .  "Though painful, Will Kane's position is not impossible.  His path is clear because he lives by an unwavering code of values.  He remains in town to defend his fellow citizens, even the many who don't appreciate his efforts.  When everyone abandons him, he faces overwhelming odds — four to one — with only the help of his wife, who returns without his knowledge and saves his life in the shootout.

"President Trump faces the same overwhelming odds.  The political establishment, the Deep State, practically the entire media, academe, unions, minorities, environmentalists, foreign nations, and special interests of all stripes have piled on, outraged that the president would actually stand up for ordinary Americans.  They thought Trump's promise to "drain the swamp" was just words — the usual political rhetoric that would be forgotten as soon as the candidate took office.  That's what Joe Biden —" friend of the working man" — has been doing for 47 years.  But President Trump is not a typical politician, and the establishment hate him for it because he exposes what they are.

"The question is whether the American people will back the president by getting out to vote.  In High Noon, a crucial point was that the citizenry of the fictional Hadleyville were too timid and afraid to join in the town's defense.  Now is the time to defend America, and the only way to do so is by casting a vote for President Trump. " . . .

If CNN-Lemon says he has many pro-Trump friends, surely you won't believe him?

Going forward, Lemon doubted if he would be able to enjoy friendships with such people ever again.

 Weasel Zippers   


Speaking of CNN: Lemon, Cuomo, and...Acosta; grave marker for a once-great news source  Excerpts from this article:   “ 'You’re a partisan and biased hack. The world knows it and wants to remind you that we all know that your nothing but a Democratic Party propaganda minister,” tweeted “FreeSpeech.' ”

“What’s wrong is a once great network @CNN spewing bile & trashing the President of the United States 24/7! You reap what you sow!” tweeted “Gailtalk.”

"CNN reporter Jim Acosta took to social media to whine about his job. It seems the 49-year-old Trump hater is perplexed about how Trump supporters treat him and his network at rallies. Poor Jim was searching for a “friendly face” in the midst of a Trump rally."

Biden says Catholic faith guides policies but gets hit on abortion, religious freedom


 Fox News

Biden would be the second practicing Catholic president but many find his policies to be antithetical to the faith

. . . "Ashley McGuire, senior fellow with The Catholic Association -- which has endorsed President Trump's re-election -- told Fox News Biden's candidacy has been confusing to Catholic voters "who believe that being Catholic is more than just another label."

“Joe Biden has campaigned on his Catholic faith while promising policies that contradict Catholic teaching and even threatening the Little Sisters of the Poor," McGuire said. "The Bishops Conference has warned of the devastating consequences of the Equality Act for religious liberty and for girls and women but Joe Biden supports it."

. . . On the issue of abortion, which Biden didn't mention Thursday discussing his devout faith, Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, an anti-abortion organization, tweeted a clear-cut message to the Democratic nominee.

" 'You cannot claim to be a practicing Catholic and support the slaughter of children in the womb. To do so is heinous and despicable. And you cannot claim you 'didn’t know' when your faith, and basic moral law, is telling you loud and clear: You shall not kill," Rose wrote.

"Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, a conservative political advocacy group, said Biden "has put himself on a collision course with the Catholic Church by promising to pass the Equality Act in the first 100 days of his presidency."

"Biden's aggressive support of the Act, together with his extreme abortion position, opposition to school choice, and pledge to restart the war on the Little Sisters makes clear his Catholic faith will be readily sacrificed at the altar of political expediency," Burch added. "Come Tuesday, Catholics must understand the existential threat posed by a Biden-Harris ticket. Donald Trump remains the best – and only – choice for Catholic voters this election.”

"The Catholic vote has been almost evenly split between the two parties. According to Fox News' 2016 exit polls, 50% of Catholics who voted supported Trump and 46% cast their ballots for then-candidate Hillary Clinton." . . .