Month: June 2018

Trump should nominate the most hard core, doctrinaire candidate he can find on the Federalist Society list, and then dare the Democrats to defeat him.  For if they do, they guarantee a blue wave in November.

Dick Nixon pulled this stunt on the Democrats with his first Supreme Court nomination in August of 1969.  He needed to fill the seat vacated by liberal activist Abe Fortas, and he selected the most hard ass unreconstructed Southerner he could find  —  Clement Haynsworth of South Carolina.

The Democrats tore Haynsworth a new one, and in the process alienated conservative whites all over the South.  They beat him 45-55, but that didn’t stop Tricky Dick.  He went ahead and nominated an even more unacceptable Southerner, Harold Carswell in January of 1970.   Poor Harold went down in April, 45-51.

In November of 1970 the Democrats paid the price, and Tricky Dick’s gambit paid off.  Southern Democrats Al Gore Sr. of Tennessee and Joseph Tydings of Maryland were defeated, and the Republicans gained two seats in the Senate.   Thank you, Clement and Harold.

If the D’s defeat the nominee, it’s the number one issue in the Senate races across the country.  If D Senators from ND, MT, IN, WV etc. have voted against the nominee, they’re toast.

So it won’t happen.  Unless the D’s decide to drink a whole can of stupid.

Babbie and I will be in Montana in a few weeks, and I hope to get a chance to talk to the people running Rosendale’s campaign for the Senate.  I’ve got a little info to share.

This is Rosendale’s race to lose.  If he has an even a moderately well run campaign he should win.  My son Darren can’t stand Tester, and will be helping out, as will son Brendan.  The election is only about four months away.  Where I’m standing it looks like clear sailing.

 

We’re going to have a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for the first time since 1935.  For half that time, since 1974, I’ve been a lawyer myself.  I feel like busting out a few verses of “Glory, glory, hallelujah.”  It’s been a long time coming.

I believe the liberals on the Supreme Court are responsible for electing Donald Trump as President.  The whole gay marriage thing was just the latest example of the Court’s impudence.  A lot of people feel just as strongly about an out of control Court and its attacks on the Constitution as I do.  Enough of them held their noses and voted for Trump to give him a win.  And in 2016, at long last, the judicial imperialists paid a political price for their disdain of the limits on their power in the Constitution.

If the Constitution simply means whatever five Supreme Court Justices say it means, it doesn’t mean anything at all, and the foundation of this country is destroyed.  For  hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of voters, their commitment to the Constitution gave Trump their votes.

These same people will vote Republican in November, as they realize their political calculation was correct.  Trump came through with Gorsuch, and he will again.  That’s  worth their vote, and the R’s will expand their majority in the Senate.  Just as Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada said they would.

On May 27, 1935, “Black Monday”, a conservative majority on the Court handed the Roosevelt administration three stinging defeats.  FDR was outraged, and decided to try to pack the Court.  The Senate refused to go along, but the Justices got the message.  There was no longer a conservative majority.  Some wilted, some retired, but the Court backed down.  Roosevelt would get his way on the Court for the rest of his Presidency.

So it’s been 83 years  since we had the Court.  Kennedy was a switch hitter, so there was never a reliable fifth vote.  Now there will be.

The big protests from the left will be about the threat to Roe v. Wade, but there’s another area of the law that’s even more significant.  That’s the part of the Constitution that guarantees the equal protection of the law, regardless of race or color.

To me, this is the foundation of the law of this country.  All men are created equal, and are equal before the law.

Affirmative action is racial discrimination.  Whites and minorities are treated differently based on their race.  That’s unconstitutional, and that’s the most important task for the new conservative majority on the Court.

Trump is hitting the trifecta.  He’s got his North Korea deal in the works, with all signs go.  He’s got the Supreme Court nomination he wanted.  And he’s going to sit down and have a heart to heart with Putin.

This is going to score him points, politically.  The D’s have so overplayed their hand on Russia that they’ve lost all credibility.  This boy has cried wolf too often.  Nobody cares about the Russians.

Except they have the second largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world, and are the only country that represents an existential threat to us.  We want to get along with these people.  Trump wants to reduce nuclear weapons.  He’ll make the effort, and be rewarded for it politically.

Peace  —  with the Norks, and with the Russians.  Prosperity  — 4% growth.

When is the last time the American people voted against peace and prosperity?

 

 

Second terms are cursed.  But Presidents seem drawn to them.  Everybody wants the validation of reelection.  But it’s not really necessary.

The Presidential election of 2020 will be a referendum on Trump, even if he has chosen not to run.  The Republican will be an ally and a proxy for the President.

Whoever it is, they’ll be dealing with a dysfunctional Congress.  It’s beyond the point where it can be reformed from within.  What we’re seeing today in Congress is what we’re going to continue to see, as far as you can look.  A broken and thoroughly corrupt institution.

There’s only one method provided by the Constitution to reform Congress:  Article V.  Let’s hope whoever takes over from Trump is aware of it.

If there is to be a new political epoch in America, it should include Article V.  The previous epoch, which ran from 1932 to 2016, was about centralization and globalization.   The new era will be one of disaggregation and nationalism.

In order to disaggregate the federal government, you need Article V.  I hope I live to see it.

Big media continues to drive the narrative, in spite of Trump’s efforts to mock it.  Until quite recently it was well established that committing serious crime while with your children meant that you would be separated from them.  Criminals do go to jail; their innocent children don’t go with them.

But entering this country illegally is no big deal, apparently, and bringing the kids along means you won’t go to jail, and be separated from them.  Perversely, this will encourage the practice.  You’re a fool if you don’t try to smuggle your children into the USA.

Public policy by photo op.  A hell of a way to run a country, but it’s reality.

 

The world is in flux, as it adjusts to American unilateralism.  Finally, at long last, the artificial Cold War bifurcation of the world is eroding.  When the United States acts in its own self interest, every nation in the world needs to recalibrate its position.

Iran is set to be the big loser.  Actually, that’s not right.  The people of Iran are set to be the big winners, when the lunatic mullahs are finally removed from power.

Russia is the country to keep our eye on, with respect to Iran.  It borders Iran, and has suffered from Islamic terrorism.  And Putin is not anti-semitic.  There are millions of ethnically Russian Jews in Israel, and Putin has a bond with them.  He doesn’t want to see Israel destroyed.

So Israel and Russia cooperate.  And Saudi Arabia and Russia cooperate.  And Israel and Saudi Arabia cooperate.  There’s no room at this table for Iran.  Plus, the new leader of Iraq, though a Shiite, wants distance from Tehran.  Iran is being isolated.  As European firms leave Iran, under the threat of American sanctions, the isolation will increase.

Zalmay Khalilzad was the U. S. Ambassador to the U. N. from 2007 to 2009.  He writes that Iran is going to have to sit down to negotiate with Trump in the near future.  I think he’s right.  Trump is coming out of Singapore on a roll.  The mullahs are on the ropes.

First denuclearize the Korean peninsula, then abet an Iranian revolution, then reach a global entente with Russia.

That’s worth three Nobel Peace Prizes.