Neil Gorsuch opposes the Kelo decision – a terrible Supreme Court property rights ruling that Donald Trump loves

Volokh Conspiracy "In an e-mail written while he was working in the George W. Bush administration, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch denounced Kelo v. City of New London, a terrible Supreme Court property rights decision that Trump himself has often praised.  
" Kelo ruled that the government has the power to take private property and transfer it to another private owner in order to promote “economic development.” Although the Fifth Amendment indicates that government may only take property for a “public use,” the Court ruled that virtually any potential public benefit qualifies as such, even if the government fails to prove that the supposed benefit will ever materialize.

"I. Gorsuch’s Opposition to Kelo.  "Gorsuch’s e-mail endorsed Justice Clarence Thomas’ hard-hitting dissent in the case:

Thomas was livid about the decision.

“Today’s decision is simply the latest in a string of our cases construing the Public Use Clause to be a virtual nullity, without the slightest nod to its original meaning,” Thomas fumed.

Gorsuch thought the dissent was so powerful that he sent an email to two friends who were former Thomas clerks.
“I am blown away by Thomas’ dissent,” Gorsuch said. . . .

Forum: Was There Illegal Surveillance Of Trump's Team? If So, Should There Be Criminal Prosecution?

"With these new rules President Obama lit a fuse before he left the White House. Our legislators must act in a non-political bipartisan manner to assure this private information remains private and is never publicly shared. Our intelligence community must understand the gravity of their positions and if they fail to honor their oaths of office they will be dealt with harshly and prosecuted to the fullest extent the law allows."

JoshuaPundit

. . . "Before definitively answering, let’s examine some unquestionable facts. Barack Obama is the product of the Chicago political machine. He thinks like a sociopathic, narcissistic thug. Whatever he desires must be his, and ethics, law, morality, decency or consideration of damage to others does not enter into it. He spent eight years weaponizing the entire federal bureaucracy, from the Department of Justice to the FBI, IRS, EPA, every agency and department of the federal government, including every facet of the intelligence “community.” His radical leftist agents are everywhere, and they are more than willing to do his bidding; that’s why they’re there. 

"Embarrassing evidence of criminal acts under court order for preservation at the IRS? Ooops! Sorry your honor, it somehow got erased! It’s nobody’s fault, really… Americans murdered by terrorists due to gross Obamite incompetence? Lie about it, and lie about lying about it. Constitution get in the way of progressive whims? I’ve got a pen and a phone! 

"We now know Obamite agents, those out of government and those still embedded in the government, are covertly and overtly doing all they can, with the help of a corrupt and amoral media, to destroy Donald Trump and his administration, and any collateral damage, like national security, the Constitution, and American’s trust in government, is of no concern to them. They believe they’re immune from consequences, and they’ll always come out on top. " . . .

What Is Life In Socialism Like? Beware!

Dr. Sarah Condor  "First, we were told what to say and what we could not say – unless we “wanted to get in trouble.” Anything against the regime and system, or the government’s policies would have been punishable: at first by extreme ostracism, job relegation or firing, then by imprisonment or worse. Words of protest against any members of the Party or any public display of disapproval would have been met with strictest public reprobation.

"Second, in school, we had books which taught us pre-approved “common core,” which is to say we learned about the scientists favored by the regime and artists who extolled it. We were also taught about how evil, corrupt, dishonest capitalism was. A money-making capitalist was described as the epitome of all evil, the oppressor of all humanity. The ubiquitous motto on notice-boards, billboards and in classrooms was the globalist: “Proletariat of the world, unite!” and “With Soviet Union forever!” and some other illogical sayings, such as “Through war to peace!” and “With socialism to glittering tomorrows!” Propaganda is lies everyone must believe in." . . .

Sarah P. Condor-Fisher, Ph.D., Esq., LL.M. grew up in communist Czechoslovakia. When she was 17, she was apprehended crossing the border, cross-interrogated by the Secret Police (KGB) and jailed. She studied MA in philosophy at University College London, she holds BA and MA in English and Ph.D. in American Literature and Literary Criticism. She is also a practicing California attorney with her own law firm. Dr. Condor-Fisher published over 50 books of non-fiction, fiction and poetry. She is also a former Olympic swimmer, USMS National Breaststroke Champion, Miss World and Miss USA in natural bodybuilding (INBA).

Trey Gowdy cleans Chuck Schumer’s clock after demand Ryan replace Nunes on intel committee

Joe Newby  "Apparently, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., thinks he has the power to determine who House Republicans can place on various committees.  On Monday, he demanded that House Speaker Paul Ryan replace Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.  This earned a stinging rebuke from Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who basically told the arrogant, condescending New Yorker to “stick it.”

“ 'Without further ado, Speaker Ryan should replace Chairman Nunes,” Schumer said from the Senate floor on Monday. “If Speaker Ryan wants the House to have a credible investigation, he needs to replace Chairman Nunes.”

“ 'Chairman Nunes is falling down on the job and seems to be more interested in protecting the president than in seeking the truth. You cannot have the person in charge of an impartial investigation be partial to one side. It’s an inherent contradiction,” he added.

"But Gowdy was having none of it." . . .

Of Babies Born In 24 States, 50% Or More Are Born On Medicaid…

Weasel Zippers

Full article here.

The ordeal of Judge Gorsuch

Gorsuch's path to 60 votes closing fast  . . . "Senior Democratic sources are now increasingly confident that Gorsuch can’t clear a filibuster, saying his ceiling is likely mid- to upper-50s on the key procedural vote. That would mark the first successful filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee since Abe Fortas for chief justice in the 1960s. 

"In the latest ominous sign for the federal judge from Colorado, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said Monday he’ll oppose Gorsuch on the cloture vote, which is expected late next week. More than a decade ago, Nelson helped break a filibuster of now-Justice Samuel Alito. 

"If Democrats successfully filibuster Gorsuch, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has heavily telegraphed that he will invoke the so-called nuclear option to unilaterally change Senate rules with a simple majority vote. And Republicans are confident they’ll have the votes to do it, even as wary as many senators are about forever altering the deliberative nature of the chamber."  . . .

Gorsuch Gets Support from Native American Groups, Liz Warren Hardest Hit

. . . "Two Native American advocacy groups apparently like Gorsuch and want to see him seated on the bench.

"Ryan Lovelace reports at the Washington Examiner:

Support for Gorsuch from Native American groups could put pressure on Western Democrats" . . .

(Emphases in the original) 

At long last, the Islamists make it past Vienna*

From American Thinker today comes this compilation by numerous sources on terrorism in the western world:

Terrorist's Wife Expects Privacy  . . . "How someone could claim a right to 'privacy' when every other terrorist wife has been caught enabling her vile husband could only be a plea for avoidance of legal scrutiny. Are the kids dancing in the streets over pop's killing spree? If it's at that level, don't tell us about privacy, the public has a right to know what kind of talk went on in that home. Did the wife give her full backing to hubbie's murder impulses on the West? That too needs to be known - and prosecuted. Too many of these killers' wives have proven themselves to be loyal partners in crime for all these terror sprees. Behind every great man there is a woman and behind every dirtbag terrorist there seems to be an equally appalling woman whose barbarism is later called to escape accountability by appealing to the niceties and good manners of the very civilized that they too would gladly kill."

Europe: Death by a Thousand Cuts . . ."Candlelight vigils, lighting up landmarks with the colors of the flag, speechifying and rationalizing terrorist behavior will never, ever deal effectively with the knife wielding inflictors of death and destruction.

"Tragically, the European nations just have not exhibited the will to do what needs to be done.

"But they must. They simply must." . . .

Terrorism on Westminster Bridge  . . . "It is not racist to exercise wisdom and courage in dealing with the enemies of civilization."

What life is like in the Caliphate of Birmingham  "When Muslims are in the minority, they complain about being oppressed.  But the minute they become the majority, they  become real oppressors because of the inherent intolerance of their culture.  Nowhere is this more evident than in many parts of Birmingham, England." . . .

*Inspiration for the above post title is the blog, Gates of Vienna, which contains this little awareness-raising quiz:

Maxine Waters on Wanting Trump Impeached: ‘I’m Out to Get Him’

Madeleine Weast

. . . "Waters said she has used the word impeachment "to the dislike" of her Democratic colleagues, as they believe the declaration is premature. But Waters claimed impeachment is her goal.

" 'But that's my goal. My goal is impeachment," Waters said.

"Waters said she was so outspoken about her dislike for Trump because she "could not live with the way he treated other people."

" 'I'm out to get him," she said. "And when he talked about grabbing women? Okay? I'm out to get him. I'm gonna see him out of office. And I think it's going to happen. Get ready for impeachment."

"This is not the first time the congresswoman has been outspoken about impeaching Trump. Waters has frequently used her social media accounts to bash Trump, declaring that he and what she calls his "Kremlin clan" colluded with Russia." . . .

Madeleine Weast is Assistant Social Media Editor for the Washington Free Beacon. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 2014. Prior to joining the Beacon, she was a Communications Fellow at The Charles Koch Institute. Madeleine is from Prairie Village, Kansas and lives in Washington, D.C. Her Twitter handle is @MadeleineWeast.

Maxine Waters: Congressional Corruption All-Star

Maxine Waters isn’t in any position to lecture on ethics–Corrupt? Openly?

. . . "California Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters considered the terrorist/murderer Fidel Castro a friend and a friend of freedom.  So, when you have an old time terrorist, killer of thousands of Cubans, tens of thousands around the world, a killer of religion, speech and education, as a friend, expect your worldview to be his hatred as well.  She is a socialist that believe government should own your life.  She hates capitalism.  But, she will use her own office to make lots of money for herself, her husband and her special interests.

“ 'During the height of the 2008 fiscal crisis, Waters helped arrange a meeting between the Treasury Department and top executives of a bank where her husband was a shareholder. Using her post on the House Financial Committee as leverage, she called Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson personally, asking him to meet with minority-owned banks.

"When Treasury followed through, there was only one financial institution present: OneUnited. Had that bank gone under, the New York Times reported, Waters’ husband would’ve lost as much as $350,000. Luckily for the Waters family, OneUnited received a cool $12 million in bailout funds." . . .

Special Report: Keep Calm and Propagandize On

 

The American Spectator : "In 2006, Melanie Phillips wrote a book called Londonistan: How Britain Is Creating a Terror State Within. She argued that Britain was a sitting duck for Islamic terrorists, owing to its idiotic embrace of political correctness, multiculturalism, and religious relativism.

"She wrote:

Britain is in denial. Having allowed the country to turn into a global hub of the Islamic jihad without apparently giving it a second thought, the British establishment is still failing even now — despite the wake-up calls of both 9/11 and the London bomb attacks of 2005 — to acknowledge what it is actually facing and take the appropriate action. Instead, it is deep into a policy of appeasement of the phenomenon that threatens it, throwing sops to both radical Islamism and the Muslim community in a panic-stricken attempt to curry favour and buy off the chances of any further attacks. This disastrous policy ignores the first law of terrorism which is that it preys on weakness. The only way to defeat it is through strength — the strength of a response based on absolute consistency and moral integrity, which arises in turn from the strength of belief in the values that are being defended.

"The left greeted the book with hisses and dismissed Phillips as an alarmist crank. But on Monday her description of Britain’s capital as “Londonistan” came graphically to life, as a terrorist chose one of its chief symbols, the area around the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, as the place to plow his car into pedestrians and then stab a police officer.

"The initial reporting after terrorist attacks these days is often full of hesitation and curious silences. The death toll is usually low-balled and the identity of the attacker is left hazy for as long as possible. So it is not surprising that the first reports on this attack identified the terrorist as merely “Asian.' ” . . .

Are There Still Trump Cards to Play?

Power Line Blog  "Liberals are gloating that the defeat of the American Health Care Act means that Trump’s presidency is over. “The stunning collapse of the Republican health-care bill now imperils the rest of President Trump’s ambitious congressional agenda,” the Washington Post says this morning. It was surely a blunder to unveil a hastily-prepared health care bill that the Republican leadership thought could be simply rammed through, and this raises questions about whether the House is well served by having a conservative policy wonk like Paul Ryan as speaker rather than a traditional pol like John Boehner, but I’ll save that question for another time.

"The present question, which has been on my mind since inauguration day, is whether Trump might flip the script for his presidency in just the same ways he did with his campaign. In other words, Trump’s rocky start and the setback of the health care bill might actually serve as ironic catalysts for a presidency that gets stronger and accomplishes more in the long run.

"I think Trump is the first president since Lincoln who has received no “honeymoon” period in Washington as is typical for new presidents—and for the same reason as in 1861: Democrats have essentially seceded from the American people, and won’t accept the results of a national election. (I’m also tempted to ask whatever made anyone think the thrice-married Trump would get a honeymoon? C’mon.) Democrats control so little territory that they can’t act literally on their secessionist impulses—though note deep blue California, where Democrats are actually talking about secession. But you can swap out “resistance” today for “rebellion” in 1861 and capture the Democratic Party mood accurately." . . .

Paul Ryan’s Catastrophic Lack of Political Skill and Judgment

John Ellis  "Everyone knows that a competent lawyer never asks a question in court to which he doesn’t already know the answer. And likewise, a competent political leader never puts a piece of legislation up for a vote without having a good idea of what the vote will be. But when Paul Ryan released his American Health Care Act he evidently had no idea what its reception would be. Whole sections of his own party were angered, and it was obvious that his bill had no chance of passage without truly major changes.

"Why didn’t Ryan know all of that before he published the bill? A skilled leader sounds out the major opinion centers in his party to get a sense of what it will take to get them all on board, so that by the time the bill is published he knows where everyone stands and how they will vote. By going public with his bill before ascertaining the lay of the land, Ryan has created an ugly rift within his party, delayed and endangered the forward movement of the Trump administration, and further alienated a GOP base which has long been exasperated by the ineffectiveness of its congressional leaders. But Paul Ryan’s political incompetence is by now a very old story." . . .

. . . "As the 2016 primary election season was about to begin, Ryan negotiated with the Obama administration an omnibus budget bill once more without bothering to find out what his party would and would not accept. And so he was surprised to find that his Republicans were more than disappointed: they were furious." . . .

 . . . "The same wonkish narrow vision and consequent political blindness was already apparent in 2012 when in the middle of an election season in which he was a Vice-Presidential candidate, again without first getting his colleagues on board, Ryan suddenly proposed a radical reform of Medicare." . . .

. . .  "Ryan’s political tin ear has at least temporarily torpedoed of the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. It has already begun to endanger the prospects for corporate tax reform." . . .

The writer goes on from there. 

All eyes on Trump, Ryan relationship after health care defeat  "Not long after President Donald Trump told his Twitter followers to watch Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro's show Saturday night, the host and Trump ally took to the screen to deliver a harsh rebuke of House Speaker Paul Ryan.  

" 'Paul Ryan needs to step down as speaker of the House," Pirro said. "The reason? He failed to deliver the votes on his health care bill. The one trumpeted to repeal and replace Obamacare. The one that he had seven years to work on. The one he hid under lock and key in the basement of Congress. The one that had to be pulled to prevent the embarrassment of not having enough votes to pass.' " . . .

Israel, the country US liberal Jews love to criticize

Phyllis Chesler

  I"n their book, Israel only has the right to exist if it is perfect - and suicidal"

Chesler

"As someone who has long been on record as both a feminist and a Zionist, I know how hard it is to maintain both loyalties. Increasingly, what passes for both left-liberal “feminism” and “Zionism,” has been taken over by poisonous, pro-Palestinian propaganda and by a suicidal alliance with Jew-haters, Jew-killers, and barbaric misogynists.

"I chose not to write about the faux-feminist Women’s Marches of 2017, but I did give two interviews about the issues involved. I experienced some immediate blowback—all on the same day and within hours of each other.

"A feminist artist sent round a spirited defense of convicted Palestinian terrorist, Rasmea Odeh, who joined Linda Sarsour as a feminist leader (!) on International Women’s Day. Based on “false news” at Snopes, she and other left feminists are happily persuaded that the Israelis sexually tortured this woman and her father for 45 days before Odeh issued a false confession. To them, Odeh is a hero of the Resistance.

"The idea that feminists might believe that the Israelis did something like this was sickening, but even more so, due to their relative silence about the tortures perpetrated by ISIS, Boko Haram, and the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban on women." . . .