God Bless Harry Reid

"The need for 60 votes can contribute to moderation and compromise because to achieve a supermajority you need to get a buy-in from at least some of the opposition. On the other hand, in a hyper-partisan atmosphere (like today’s), a 60-vote threshold can ensure that everything gets stopped and nothing gets done."

Charles Krauthammer

Senate Democrats have Reid to thank for being powerless to block Gorsuch’s nomination.

. . . "God bless Harry Reid. It’s because of him that Gorsuch is guaranteed elevation to the Court. In 2013, as then–Senate majority leader, Reid blew up the joint. He abolished the filibuster for federal appointments both executive (such as cabinet) and judicial, for all district- and circuit-court judgeships (excluding only the Supreme Court). Thus unencumbered, the Democratic-controlled Senate packed the lower courts with Obama nominees.

"Reid was warned that the day would come when Republicans would be in the majority and would exploit the new rules to equal and opposite effect. That day is here. 

"The result is striking. Trump’s cabinet appointments are essentially unstoppable because Republicans need only 51 votes and they have 52. They have no need to reach 60, the number required to overcome a filibuster. Democrats are powerless to stop anyone on their own." . . .

#BoycottNordstrom Swings From Left To Right After Ivanka Trump Drop

IBD

"Nordstrom (JWN) has decided to stop selling Ivanka Trump's line of merchandise, which means the #BoycottNordstrom hashtag has a very different audience on Twitter as of Friday than it did just days earlier.

"Nordstrom shares rose 2.2% to 44.48 in the stock market today, trying to break a downtrend going back to early December.

"Fashion news site Racked.com first reported Thursday the decline of Ivanka Trump-branded items available for sale at the upscale department store, citing figures from the Grab Your Wallet campaign — there are now just four styles of shoe cataloged on the site, vs. 71 products available as of early December. Reports from Bloomberg and elsewhere later confirmed that Nordstrom had dropped the brand.

"Grab Your Wallet has been vocal in trying to get shoppers to boycott stores that carry Trump-affiliated merchandise. The list includes Macy's (M), Amazon (AMZN), TJX (TJX)-owned T.J. Maxxand others.

"Via statements to outlets and on its own Twitter page, Nordstrom has said that the decision was not about politics but about business." . . .

Weekly Standard’s O’Connor: Maddow Should Escort Milo Onto Campus

Legal Insurrection

"By their silence, Dems are being associated with violence on campus"

 "Note: the segment began with a report that there was violence last night at NYU, with people protesting against a speech by Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes. He was pepper-sprayed while entering the hall, and several demonstrators were arrested."

Barack Obama should be speaking out against the protests any time now. Very soon, I'm sure.

Obama Refuses to Condemn Anti-Trump Riots, Violence Against Trump Supporters
. . . “ 'I would not advise people who feel strongly or are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised over the course of the campaign, I would not advise them to be silent,” he said Thursday." . . .

Obama's mentoring by Rev Wright, Bill Ayers and Frank Marshall Davis is becoming ever more manifest.

The shame of Berkeley and the left

In truth, I heard on the Fox Special Report panel that Ms. Napolitano and the campus police did require due diligence and provide for security at Milo's lecture. The prepared-for student demonstrators were joined by paid rioters dressed in black. As of the last report I heard, one arrest - one - was made. More should be disclosed as this post evolves. TD

Deranged Millenials, Academicians, and Hollywood crap shooters
"In the two weeks since the inauguration of our 45th president, we have seen the world erupt into predictable chaos.  Anarchy has been fomented by the growing underworld of arrogant progressives who believe they are the most intelligent beings on the planet.  Some say this effort is orchestrated by a billionaire who lives for just one thing: to tear down the fabric of our society, destroy our Constitution, and remove the collective freedoms we have all come to enjoy.  His methods revolve around inciting fear in women and minorities who fail to realize that their freedoms in America are unprecedented and available nowhere else on Earth.  The endgame is to install a globalist-dominated one-world order and destroy the American two-party system." . . .

"Eventually, you will wish you had taken more time to study and analyze the malignant undercurrent of which you are now a part.  Will it be too late?  Will you ultimately regret the day you fell for the chicanery?  Wake up!  Study before you act.  Contemplate before you speak, and for the love of God, stop before you destroy yourselves and everyone you value."

Berkeley’s Shame

The use of violence in the pursuit of political aims is the very definition of terrorism. And while it probably would be too much to treat these half-baked campus radicals with the seriousness applied to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State, the crimes committed in this and related episodes are serious and demand to be treated seriously. Political violence has social implications far beyond those of ordinary crime — we are not talking here about local thugs knocking over a 7-Eleven in Oakland.

. . . "Despite blindingly obvious evidence of criminality during Wednesday’s riots, only one person — one — was arrested. Lawbreakers should be prosecuted, and if they’re students, expelled. Likewise, a Twitter account representing Occupy Oakland declared that the group’s intention is to make “war” — their word — not only on Kentish political commentators but also on the U.S. government, and though it does them too much credit, the U.S. government should do them the courtesy of taking them at their word. If that means a federal terrorism investigation, so be it (though it would be better if the authorities in California would do their job and take the lead in this matter)."

The left throws a tantrum

We are seeing the viciousness of the left and must earnestly pray for America and President Trump. Unless, of course, we are seeing this nation set aside by He Who Decides the History of Nations and their role in this world.  TD

Sarah Silverman calls for military coup against "fascist" Trump

. . . "Ionesco drove irony to sublimely ridiculous lengths. For leftists today, that's not much of a reach. They spend several decades trashing the Constitution and then claim Trump is violating constitutional principles. They spend even longer  trashing American values and then claim Trump is destroying American values. Irony escapes them because their ability for reflection and self-criticism is non existent. They are oblvious to their own stupidity.

"Thankfully, the military will ignore Sliverman's encouragement and do their duty according to the oath they swore when they enlisted. That has a far more powerful hold on them than some loony lefty's fantasy about a coup that isn't even worthy of a bad movie script."

Berkeley riots put campus fascism on Trump’s agenda
. . . "Berkeley and its university are worldwide symbols of the leftist takeover and corruption of academia.  Few people realize that until 1964, when the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley signaled the start of the leftist assault on academia, Berkeley had been governed by Republicans for many years.  The influx of thousands of leftists from all over the nation is what changed the city into a stronghold and symbol of the left.

"The president of the University of California is none other than Janet Napolitano, the former head of Homeland Security, someone who ought to know about keeping order and preventing riots, but let her university fail.  It is not as if the intentions of the rioters were any secret."

It’s Escalating: Defiance and Calls for Violence among Democrats

Will Democrats’ actions lead to widening civil unrest? Will they do damage to the compact among our states that make our nation a nation? Only time will tell. 

 

American Thinker  "From New York to California, to a Screen Actors Guild ceremony, Democrats are stepping up their calls to defy President Trump’s executive actions to close the nation’s porous borders and make America safer from terrorists. Making America safer is exactly what they’re opposing, blubbery words about compassion and inclusion aside. Actor David Harbour has even called for assault. Will a call to arms be next? For Democrats and the left (one in the same), peace and love have gone the way of tie-dyed shirts and bellbottoms.

"In the immediate wake of Trump’s inauguration, violence erupted. Leftists angered that Trump was president took to the streets, hurling rocks and employing David Harbour’s method of catharsis.

"On the heels of the protest violence, came the Million Gals March. Intimations of violence were elevated as celebs -- Madonna and Ashley Judd, notably -- spewed vitriol to a national audience. Madonna’s dream about blowing up the White House (with the president in it, doubtless) was swept away by the MSM as hyperbole. Yet a worldly 58-year-old diva shouldn’t be lightly dismissed as a complete idiot. Madonna knows plenty about audiences and followings. Her words act as cues." . . .

Senator Finds Hilarious Proof Liberals Were Ready To Protest Any Trump SCOTUS Nominee

Weasel Zippers

"He could have nominated Jesus and they would have protested him. In fact, had he nominated Jesus, they would have protested him more. His religiosity would have been an impediment…  "Via Daily Caller:

Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse found evidence that liberal protesters at the Supreme Court Tuesday were ready to protest any nominee put forward by President Donald Trump.

Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to be a Supreme Court associate justice.

Sasse found signs that read “Stop,” with Gorsuch’s name written in marker.

“Went to the Supreme Court to talk to the protesters. But it turns out to be a Mad-Lib protest. #Fill-In-The-Blank,” the senator tweeted with a picture reading, “Stop Gorsuch.” The sign, however, only had the word “Stop” printed on it, with “Gorsuch” added after his name was announced in marker.

Sasse then tweeted, “By the way, protestors- Among those who were in the Senate when Gorsuch was last unanimously confirmed: *Obama *Biden *Clinton & *Schumer.”

Democrats Wholeheartedly Backed Gorsuch in 2006

. . . "After President Trump on Tuesday night nominated conservative judge Neil Grouch to the Supreme Court, Pence tweeted: “Here is the Video of 2006 were 45 Democrats Helped Unanimously Confirm #NeilGorsuch (incl. @SenSchumer, and Obama).”

"Who know[s] who else voted for the then-nominee to be a judge on the 10th U.S. Court of Appeals? Sen. Joe Biden, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Diane Feinstein, Sen. Patrick Leahy. The vote was such a non-issue the Senate did the deed by voice vote, and there are no known senators who opposed the nomination by President George W. Bush." . . .

Give Me Your Tired Arguments

Ann Coulter

"Everything said about President Trump's "Muslim ban" is a lie ­­ including that it's a Muslim ban.

"The New York Times wore out its thesaurus denouncing the order: "cruelty ... injury ... suffering ... bigoted, cowardly, self­defeating ... breathtaking ... inflammatory ... callousness and indifference" ­­ and that's from a single editorial! 

"Amid the hysteria over this prudent pause in refugee admissions from seven countries whose principal export is dynamite vests, it has been indignantly claimed that it's illegal for our immigration policies to discriminate on the basis of religion. 

"This is often said by journalists who are only in America because of immigration policies that discriminated on the basis of religion. 

"For much of the last half­century, Soviet Jews were given nearly automatic entry to the U.S. as "refugees." Entering as a refugee confers all sorts of benefits unavailable to other immigrants, including loads of welfare programs, health insurance, job placement services, English language classes, and the opportunity to apply for U.S. citizenship after only five years. 

"Most important, though, Soviet Jews were not required to satisfy the United Nations definition of a "refugee," to wit: someone fleeing persecution based on race, religion or national origin. They just had to prove they were Jewish. 

"This may have been good policy, but let's not pretend the Jewish exception was not based on religion. 

"If a temporary pause on refugee admissions from seven majority­Muslim countries constitutes "targeting" Muslims, then our immigration policy "targeted" Christians for discrimination for about 30 years. 

"Never heard a peep from the ACLU about religious discrimination back then! "  . . .

UC Berkeley cancels Milo Yiannopoulos event amid violent protest

SFGate  "A protest at UC Berkeley turned fiery and violent Wednesday night, shutting down a scheduled speech by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.

"The Breitbart News editor was set to deliver a speech inside a UC Berkeley campus building but hundreds of protesters began throwing fireworks and pulling down the metal barricades police set up to keep people from rushing into the building. Windows were smashed and fires were set outside the building as masked protesters stormed it.

"The Berkeley Police Department said people threw bricks, smoking objects, and fireworks at police officers. University police locked down all buildings and ordered a shelter in place, and later fired rubber pellets into the crowd of protesters who defied orders to leave the area.

“ 'This is what tolerance looks like at UC Berkeley,” said Mike Wright, a Berkeley College Republican member said as smoke bombs went off around him. Someone threw red paint on him. “It’s sad.”

"Protesters argued that hate speech isn’t free speech, countering the university’s explanation — free speech — on why it had allowed the event to proceed even as students demanded that the university cancel it." . . .

This can give you an idea where he comes from, philosophically speaking.

And here is his Facebook page.

Remember Corporal Louis LeBeau of Hogan's Heroes?

Summing up his Holocaust experiences: "The whole experience was a complete nightmare, the way they treated us, what we had to do to survive. We were less than animals. Sometimes I dream about those days. I wake up in a sweat terrified for fear I'm about to be sent away to a concentration camp. But I don't hold a grudge because that's a great waste of time. Yes, there's something dark in the human soul. For the most part human beings are not very nice. That's why when you find those who are, you cherish them." Robert Clary, above, right,

Actor, author, survivor: the resilience of Robert Clary

. . . "A tattoo on his left arm left him marked as prisoner A5714. Clary was later transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. Upon his liberation from Buchenwald on April 11, 1945, Clary learned that 12 other members of his immediate family, including his parents, had been sent to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland and did not survive the Holocaust. Three of his siblings had not been deported and instead survived the Nazi occupation of France.

"Clary reflects on how he survived the Holocaust, revealing that he sang to SS soldiers at Buchenwald every week with an accordionist. He believes that singing and entertaining along with his youth and good health allowed him to make it through the ordeal. Clary also notes that due to his age he did not fully understand the severity of the concentration camps.

"His experiences during the Holocaust and the loss of his loved ones affected him deeply. What especially troubles him is that he feels that he and others in his situation were not viewed as human beings by the Nazis, and that they were usually treated as even less than animals. Upon arriving at the Buchenwald camp, Clary and his fellow prisoners had to spend the first night in a shower room. They were terrified that they would actually be gassed to death since Nazi SS officers often used fake showerheads in concentration camp gassing chambers. Clary did not receive food for his first eight days at the camp, and he and other prisoners slept on top of one another only to wake up next to the corpses of those who did not make it through the night."

NEW RULES? TRUMP’S EPIC STRUGGLE WITH THE LEFT

PowerLineBlog  "It is evident that the left, with the active cooperation of the news media, wishes to drive Trump from office. Nothing will sate the left or get them to calm down into a recognizably responsible opposition force.

"And why shouldn’t the left think this can succeed? It has worked before. They bagged two presidents in succession back in the 1960s and 1970s—Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. “In a sense,” Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote of Lyndon Johnson’s decision not to run again in 1968, “he was the first American President to be toppled by a mob. No matter that it was a mob of college professors, millionaires, flower children, and Radcliffe girls.” The night Johnson announced his decision, leftists took to the streets to sing “We have overcome.”

"Now the leftist mob is larger and even more ferocious. The risk for Trump is that, like Nixon, he will commit some dreadful blunder that, as Nixon put it himself later, hands the left a sword that they can run right through him." . . .

 ". . .from the very end of FDR’s speech:

The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.

"Sounds just like Trump doesn’t it? No wonder the left is freaking out. He’s using the playbook they wrote, but adding a new chapter of his own in all caps and boldface type. Sad! for the left."

Justice Gorsuch ...Updated

A Supreme Successor to Justice Scalia  . . . "In his grief over the death of a justice he deeply admired and emulated, Judge Gorsuch could hardly have imagined the series of events that would lead to his being selected today to fill the Scalia vacancy. And while he has rightly recognized that no one could ever replace Justice Scalia, there are strong reasons to expect Justice Gorsuch to be an eminently worthy successor to the great justice. 

"Gorsuch is a brilliant jurist and dedicated originalist and textualist. He thinks through issues deeply. He writes with clarity, force, and verve. And his many talents promise to give him an outsized influence on future generations of lawyers." . . .

Neil Gorsuch: A Worthy Heir to Scalia  . . . "That Judge Gorsuch’s judicial philosophy is similar to Justice Scalia’s is evident from a tribute the former gave after the latter’s death. In that tribute, Gorsuch summarized and endorsed Scalia’s method of legal interpretation:" . . .

5 Things You Should Know About Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch  "On Tuesday, President Donald Trump nominated appellate judge Neil Gorsuch to serve on the Supreme Court. Trump fulfilled his pledge to select a nominee "in the mold of Antonin Scalia," for Gorsuch seems cut from exactly the same cloth.

"Like Scalia, Gorsuch is both a texualist and an originalist — he interprets legal provisions as their words were originally understood, and not according to doctrines like the "Living Constitution." This is important, and points to how he will rule on pivotal cases if confirmed by the Senate." . . .

Will Trump's Supreme Court battle go nuclear?  . . . "The president has acknowledged that he expects McConnell to overturn the filibuster for a Supreme Court nominee if the Democrats continue to be "obstructionists," while Senator McConnell for his part has said he does not plan to kill the filibuster but has also said he is "going to get this nominee confirmed.' " . . .

Given that McConnell paved the way for a Trump nominee by successfully blocking Obama's attempt to replace Antonin Scalia after Scalia's death last February, McConnell gets some credit as a master Senate tactician and thus the benefit of the doubt in this case.

UPDATES, with much thanks to Lucianne:
Former Sotomayor law clerk, and a Kagan attorney praise Gorsuch
. . . "As Gorsuch was nominated by President Trump, his nomination earned high marks from multiple people who clerked for Gorsuch on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals before working for justices President Obama selected to serve on the Supreme Court."

From Law Nuze: Here’s Why It Would Be Very Stupid for Dems to Block Neil Gorsuch
. . . "But as fun as it would be to watch Democrats tantrum their way into blocking Judge Neil Gorsuch‘s Supreme Court nomination, it’s a bad idea and would follow in the Republicans dangerous precedent." . . .

NY Times: Why Liberals Should Back Neil Gorsuch   It is accompanied by a counterpoint on why liberals should oppose Gorsuch.