"Jesus Lunches" — free lunch and talking about Jesus, in the city park next to the high school.

Althouse  . . . "A city park is a traditional speech forum where free-speech rights are at their strongest. And what's wrong with "incentivizing participation" with free food? It sounds like nothing more than objecting to the message. These are private citizens, not government employees, and they're speaking on a subject of their choice with their own point of view. That's plain old freedom of speech. You can't discriminate against it because the religious message is making some people uncomfortable or because you're reminded of things like prayer in the classroom that would present a problem under the Establishment Clause." . . .

TOLERANCE TURNED ON ITS HEAD

"Shoulda done it long ago."

American Spectator "Sexual lefties don’t have policy merits on their side. But they’re clearly winning the communications battle, using their usual tactics of distorting and demonizing reasonable, traditional positions on public policy, and simply assuming the moral high ground.

"Evidence for this is the considerable public opposition to religious freedom laws, such as those that have lately created kerfuffles in North Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi. These laws do not, as the left cynically asserts, inconvenience gays or other of the left’s constituencies. But their absence does allow the left to do great damage to the First Amendment, and to traditional Christian believers with deep and sincere religious objections to parts of the left’s brave new sexual agenda." . . .

"But the sexual left doesn’t want to accommodate those whom they viscerally dislike. Sexual politics is flowing their way just now, and they wish to rub traditionalists’ noses in it. The animus against religious freedom laws in The Movement is not motivated by a desire for fairness and respect, but by plain meanness."

Emphasis added, TD 

Clintonism, RIP

Charles Krauthammer  . . . "Other pillars of her husband’s internationalism were already toppled, pre-2016, by the Obama presidency, often with her active collaboration. At the core of Bill Clinton’s foreign policy lay the notion of America as the “indispensable nation.” It is today quite dispensable, indeed a nation in retreat—from (Hillary’s) reset with Russia to the Iranian nuclear negotiations (which Hillary initiated with secret meetings in Oman in 2012) to the disastrous evacuation of Iraq in 2011.
"As has happened with another of Bill’s major achievements: welfare reform. President Obama has essentially dismantled its work requirements (with Bill Clinton’s acquiescence, a sign of things to come). No need for Hillary to repudiate her husband’s legacy. It has been done for her.

"How far has the party moved left? Under Bill Clinton, it gave up on gun control after stinging defeats in the 1994 midterms. Today, Hillary Clinton delights in attacking Sanders for being soft on gun control. Malleable she is. And she sure knows her party." . . .

Forget Russia and Iran! Global warming is our biggest threat!

Taking Down the Stop Sign  . . ."America sheltered behind Red Lines during the Cold War, put in place by a generation who knew at first hand the high price of removing them. Yet in a generation since the fall of the Berlin Wall that lesson has been forgotten even in those who style themselves as intellectuals. President Obama's willingness to negotiate every "Red Line", which he regards as smart diplomacy, as proof of his intellectual superiority and confirmation of his status as the only adult in the room, is in fact nothing but an ignorant repetition of every error in the last hundred years; the action of a man who seems to have forgotten, indeed never having bothered to learn the lessons his nation's history has to offer.

"Captain Rick Hoffman correctly observes that the USS Cook provocation by itself is not worth a fight.  It's the one that comes after, and the one after that, and after that which you really have to worry about.  And they will come. For the challenges either stop somewhere or continue until they can't go on any more." 

You started it! Russia claims its fighter jets only buzzed US Navy warship because it was ‘in proximity’ of nearby Baltic base . . .

A rising Russia’s fighters buzz U.S. ship as Obama declares ISIS decline   "But that’s not all of the international provocations that go unanswered. North Korea and Iran continue ICBM tests despite promises and sanctions. China continues militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea. Iran continues shipping arms to terrorists, has fired near U.S. ships and boasts of accelerated development of its nuclear program, despite a nuclear deal with Obama."

On to more ominous things:
Obama: "No greater threat" than climate change

When he was first elected, these were the expectations in 2009:
President 'has four years to save Earth'  "Barack Obama has only four years to save the world. That is the stark assessment of Nasa scientist and leading climate expert Jim Hansen who last week warned only urgent action by the new president could halt the devastating climate change that now threatens Earth. Crucially, that action will have to be taken withinObama's first administration, he added." . . .

Al Sharpton Tells Megyn Kelly To ‘Calm Down’ After She Questions His Race Baiting Actions In Ferguson…

Weasel Zippers

Mediaite  "Megyn Kelly scored a pretty big interview today, speaking with MSNBC host Reverend Al Sharpton about #BlackLivesMatter and why he hasn’t apologized for his role in ginning up outrage over Ferguson.

The interview started out lighter, with Sharpton talking about the black vote and President Obama and Donald Trump, but Kelly pivoted to the issue of race relations and “more controversial aspects” of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, such as “pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon” chants.

Sharpton said he doesn’t condone that kind of rhetoric.

Kelly asked him briefly about Baltimore before going in hard on Ferguson. She asked him, “Do you feel bad about what you said?”

Sharpton seemed a bit confused as to what she meant, affirming that he “stated what I believed” and expressed the sincere outrage of many. Kelly pointed out that the DOJ report found no reaso

Video of the Day: This Is How to Confront Campus Crybabies

NRO  "Perhaps campus administrators are starting to learn their lesson. From Ohio State University comes the video of the day — an “actual grownup” (to borrow Ed Driscoll’s words) ordering campus protesters to end their unlawful “occupation” of the university’s administration building:

. . . "I never thought I’d say this, but I’m proud of the Big 10 and ashamed of the SEC. Cowardly Missouri continues to pay the price for last year’s craven capitulation. The university has actually closed two dormitories because of enrollment declines and is battling through a $32 million budget shortfall." . . . 

Trump channels inner spoiled brat over delegate count

NJ.com   Via Lucianne   "Donald Trump will be happy to learn that the rules in New Jersey are simple: If he wins the primary here, he gets all the delegates.

It gets more complicated in other states. Some give extra weight to party regulars, some to voters willing to endure a caucus process, and some have complex hybrids.

"One thing is beyond dispute: The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that state parties can draft their own rules. They are like private clubs. The Constitution says nothing about how they should run their internal affairs.

"The Donald apparently didn't know that. And now he's banging a spoon on his high chair, whining that he's been robbed.

" 'The system is rigged," he said on Monday. "It's crooked."

"New Jersey's rules strike us as more fair. But if other states want to give added weight to party regulars, or to those willing to caucus process, or to sitting members of Congress, that's their business." . . .

Boycotts, Bathrooms, and the Boss

Curiously, Disney didn't seem to have a problem distributing The Force Awakens, which was filmed in the United Arab Emirates, a nation that actually murders people for engaging in homosexual behavior.  (To be fair, I'm not sure where they come down on transgendered bathroom use.)

Mark Griswold  "This past Sunday, Bruce Springsteen was scheduled to play a concert in Greensboro, N.C.  He canceled the concert, citing opposition to the recently passed H.B. 2, the "bathroom bill," which he labeled discriminatory against the transgender community.  Three weeks ago, Disney and several other companies, state governments, and individuals threatened to boycott the state of Georgia if Governor Nathan Deal signed a bill with similar legislation.  He folded to the pressure and vetoed that bill.  In 2010, a similar boycott of the state of Arizona was launched in opposition to S.B. 1070, a bill that strengthened immigration laws.

"Never mind that the people boycotting these states haven't read or don't understand what's in these bills.  If they did, they might stop hyperventilating and calling everyone they disagree with a bigot." . . .

Obama's love affair with Iran hasn't worked out so well

IRAN CONTINUES NEEDLING U.S. OVER NAVY BOAT SEIZURE
"It is likely that we have not heard the last from the Iranians on this humiliating saga. In fact, Razmjou said that the IRG will publish a book about the incident. The Iranian bombast stands in marked contrast to the Pentagon’s demurred, almost docile stance. The reasons for the Pentagon’s silence are not hard to fathom. Something happened in the Arabian Gulf on January 12 that if revealed, would likely cause considerable embarrassment to the Obama administration."

The next non-Democrat President will be loathed whan he or she tries to clean up Obama's mess 
. . . "The Iran deal would be laughable if it were not so tragic. What Obama calls the Iranian violation of the “spirit” of the agreement— from shooting missiles near carriers and hijacking and humiliating Navy seamen, to unleashing cyber war on the U.S. and issuing daily promises of war against the U.S. and Israel—is a precursor of more to come in the next 10 months. If Iran is not to become a nuclear power, the next president will have to re-impose sanctions and reassemble a coalition to prevent its nuclearization. That effort too will be difficult, and it will outrage many and be caricatured as saber-rattling." . . .
 ". . . History in the short term adores appeasers. They pontificate and pose as sober and judicious humanitarians who will do anything to avoid confrontation on their watch, even as they light the fuse of Armageddon for their successors. The restorers of deterrence are always smeared as war-mongers—and only praised as Churchillian largely when they are dead. So it will be for the next president if he or she chooses to stop the decline and restore the American-led postwar order."


Obama Foreign Policy Under Fire From His Former Defense Secretaries

. . . "As we have repeatedly reported, both Obama and the press regularly try to bolster President Obama’s legacy at the expense of the truth. The truth is that President Obama’s signature legacies, such as his deals with Iran and Cuba, involved reaching out to totalitarian regimes, and making deals that were terrible for the U.S., but great for Cuba and Iran.

"In fact, there is no signed deal with Iran, and the Iranian regime has repeatedly made clear that they have no intention of abiding by what the Obama administration claims are the terms of the deal. Iran has shown complete contempt for Obama and the U.S. since collecting more than $100 billion of previously frozen funds. In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador to the U.S., Yousef al Otaiba arguedthat “Since the nuclear deal, however, Iran has only doubled down on its posturing and provocations. In October, November and again in early March, Iran conducted ballistic-missile tests in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.” He added that “It is now clear that one year since the framework for the deal was agreed upon, Iran sees it as an opportunity to increase hostilities in the region., " . . .

Born To Run (to the Ladies Room)

HopeNChangeCartoons

"Rocker Bruce Springsteen has cancelled a concert appearance in Greensboro, North Carolina to protest the state's law which segregates bathroom privileges based exclusively on an individual's God-given plumbing rather than their current (and sometimes flexible) gender self-identification. Moreover, in an additional show of solidarity for the "whichever damn bathroom we choose" crowd,  Springsteen has changed the name of his backup group to "The P Street Band.' " . . .

Comment to the article:

"Springsteen is trying to punish the government. He’s only succeeding in hurting the local business, the concert promoter and what few fans he has left and his bottom line*. Not a very smart businessman is he. There are many ways he could have made his point without shooting himself in the foot. I see him as a fool."

*Sorry, but The Boss has many, many fans. We can only hope that not all  like his politics and are as I am: "Shut up and sing!"
However all this tantrum belies Bruce's constant tributes to the working people he sings about.  TD

About the Trump campaign's ignorance in Colorado

Before we get to the Trump flop in Colorado:
Ann Coulter  "Before we begin, can we stop referring to Wisconsin as "Midwestern nice"? That's all we've heard since Ted Cruz beat Donald Trump there: Wisconsinites are just so nice, they couldn't abide Trump's rough style. 

"Does anyone remember the whole taking over the capitol thing? How they nearly recalled a sitting governor a few years ago? Remember the protesters fighting with cops, rounds of arrests in the rotunda, the drum circles and chanting? How about themidnight raids on citizens for supporting the "Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill"? 

"Wisconsin is a lot of things, but "nice" is not one of them. "Soviet" is more like it. It was always a bad state for Trump because there are virtually no immigrants in Wisconsin, and peevish Wisconsinites refused to believe the rest of the country about the cultural mores we're bringing in." . . .

But to get onto the main point of this article, which is Trump's poor organization and lack of political savvy:

"Another misconception sweeping the nation is that when state Republican parties disregard the voters and give all their delegates to Cruz, they are merely following THE RULES, and Trump is an idiot for not knowing THE RULES. " . . .

But Coulter holds no brief for Sen. Cruz personally:
"Imagine what nightmare a Cruz presidency would be! This is now the second time Cruz has forced me to research something his supporters were lying about -- the last time was on Cruz's alleged eligibility to be president, despite being born in Canada. (He's not a "natural born citizen," but I enjoyed reading all those Supreme Court opinions!) 

"Instead of fun stuff like building a wall, bringing manufacturing home and getting tired of winning so much, we'll have to keep reading through centuries of British common law and RNC rulebooks until, out of exhaustion, we give in, and let Cruz run for student council president."

She is still a Trumpist.

On Transgender Restrooms and All Similar Matters, Let Property Owners Decide

" . . .Whether the law bans associations, as it did under Jim Crow, or compels associations, as it does today, it uses force to deprive human beings of their fundamental rights. We should abide neither."

PJ Media

. . . "When you open a business, the theory goes, you yield your authority over the venue where it is housed. You must, under the force of law, do business with people you may not want to do business with, and on terms that you may not agree to. Why? Because discrimination is bad.

"But is it? Discrimination is choice. That's it. When you choose between this thing and that, you discriminate. When you choose where to live, whom to love, how to earn a living, what to believe, you discriminate against the alternatives. How is that bad? More to the point, what right does anyone else have to tell you what choices you should make?

"Many in today's culture claim that there exists some mystical distinction between discrimination in personal affairs, such as whom you marry or where you live, and matters of "public accommodation." Somehow, and no one has been able to rationally articulate how, you lose the right to choose when you offer products and services to the public." . . .

Walter Hudson advocates for individual rights, serving on the board of theRepublican Liberty Caucus of Minnesota, and as president of the Minority Liberty Alliance. He hosts a daily podcast entitled Fightin Words, proudly hosted on Twin Cities Newstalk Podcast Network. Walter is a city council member in Albertville, MN.