In addition to all that, we've got rumors of Justice Kennedy's retirement swirling. Throw that into the mix, and it's going to be a pretty big term for the Court.
Illinois has long been spending more money than it's been taking in. When you aren't the federal government, and you have to actually balance a budget, that's eventually going to be a problem. For Illinois, the day of reckoning is soon.
“The state [of Illinois] can no longer function without a responsible and complete budget without severely impacting our core obligations and decimating services to the state’s most in-need citizens,” Mendoza wrote. “We must put our fiscal house in order. It is already too late. Action is needed now.”
As you'll see from my comments, I certainly think partisan gerrymandering is an issue that needs to be addressed, but I'm not convinced it's the court's province to do so.
During the conversation, Comey told lawmakers he confronted Lynch
with a highly sensitive piece of evidence, a communication between two
political figures that suggested Lynch had agreed to put the kibosh on
any prosecution of Clinton.
Comey said "the attorney general looked at the document then looked
up with a steely silence that lasted for some time, then asked him if he
had any other business with her and if not that he should leave her
office," said one source who was briefed.
Trump's a buffoon, but he's doing pretty dang good at the job description of: "Not Being Hillary Clinton and her Corrupt Crime Syndicate". If Hillary had won the election, there's no telling how much crap like this would be going on.
Thirteen years ago, I married a girl better looking that me, smarter than me, and nicer than me. She's the best thing that ever happened to me, and I'm looking forward to many more happy years!
It is true that among the impeachment charges leveled against
President Richard Nixon was one for obstructing justice, but didn’t
Nixon commit the independent crime of instructing his aides to lie to
the FBI? I think that was sort of the "hook".
I’m just saying that I don’t think there is an actual, criminal
statute that applies. I’m not 100% sure of this, but I think the reason
that the FBI is in “independent agency” isn’t because of some particular
law. I think it’s this way because there has been decades and decades
of Presidents who have ceded their authority over the FBI because of
republican deference. (That’s republican with a little “r”.) In the
past, Presidents have directed that the DOJ prosecute (or not prosecute)
individuals. That’s a historical fact. You can go look it up.
What if Trump had told Comey, “You are no longer authorized to
legally investigate Flynn because I’ve decided to pardon him.” Would
that be obstruction of justice? No, obviously.
But we elected this knuckle-head who doesn’t really do “deference to
power” or worry about “conflicts of interest”. Rather, he did the
clumsy, classless, entitled guy thing of just being stupid. I think it’s
abuse of power, unethical, and outside of the standards of decency that
have been set and respected by Presidents since time out of mind.
But I don’t think it’s actually a crime. Sorry if you don’t like it.
If the President has the Constitutional authority to fire the FBI
Director, he certainly has the authority to tell him what to do (or not do). It doesn’t mean that he should, but it sort of does, in fact, mean that he can.
At the end of the day, it’s not Trump’s fault. It’s our fault. We
elected this scrub. So, it’s sort of hard for me to come down really
hard on the moron we elected President because the country did, in fact,
elect him. It would be like electing a fish to run a 100 yard dash and
then getting mad at the fish because he can’t run. It’s not the fish’s
fault it can run. It’s your fault for making a fish try to run. It’s a
freaking fish, you ninny.
Democrats, maybe next time around you won’t run the most unlikable,
entitled harridan to be the candidate. Everyone owes a big apology to
the founders. We really screwed up. Who knows, y’all don’t really seem
to be getting this particular lesson. Maybe Hillary will be the
candidate for President until she either dies or wins. Anything is
possible with the Democrats.
I’m not trying to carry Trump’s water. I have nothing invested in
him. I didn’t vote for him. I wish he weren’t the President. But, I can
look at the facts, look at the law, look at how our Constitution works,
and see that this isn’t a crime based on what I’ve seen thus far.
73 years ago, over 150,000 Allied troops landed on the shores of France, intent on reclaiming Europe from the German army that had overrun and occupied Europe. It was a calculated gamble, and the outcome was far from certain. In the early morning hours of darkness before the sun rose, thousands of men dropped from the sky in connection with the landings.
When the first waves hit the shore at Omaha Beach, they were immediately met with withering fire from fortified German positions. Omaha Beach is a curved beach, like a crescent moon, and it has high bluffs overlooking the shore. Accordingly, it was the most easily defended by the Germans. Here's what it looked like that day.
A good view of the high ground at the rear of Omaha beach, known to the Americans as ‘bluffs’, that made such a natural defensive position. The Naval gunfire had set fire to the grass, which provided a certain amount of unintentional cover.
Separating Omaha Beach and Utah Beach was the highest point - Pointe du Hoc.
Pointe du Hoc as seen from the air today. It separates and overlooks both Omaha and Utah Beach.
The American Rangers were assigned the task of scaling these cliffs and taking this point. Here is President Reagan recounting the assault:
Think about all the things you do this morning. You might have had to deal with some young kids who didn't want to go to school. Maybe you got stuck in some annoying traffic. You might have to do some difficult work at your job. But stop for a second to think about what you didn't do.
You didn't cram into a plywood thing that was half-boat and half-target that took you out on a choppy ocean channel. You didn't have to wade out into cold ocean water when the front door on that boat dropped open, which was the cue for thousands of men to start shooting at you in your little plywood target. You didn't have to fight through artillery rounds, mines, bullets, grenades, and make your way over the beach to the men shooting at you from protected bunkers.
You didn't have to ride in an airplane with heavy gear strapped to you, fly into the teeth of anti-aircraft fire, and then drop thousands of feet in the dark, only to find yourself scattered and surrounded by hostile German soldiers trying to kill you, and all that you had to fight back was the gear you carried with you.
When you think about what the men of D-Day did seventy three years ago, what we do today in our daily lives seems pretty small. There aren't very many veterans of D-Day left anymore, so you probably won't get a chance to thank one of them personally.
If you're in Columbia today, chances are you'll run into a soldier from Ft. Jackson if you're around town. Take a moment to stop and thank them for their willingness to serve. Everyone who has worn the uniform of the United States military had the willingness to serve.
Okay, the headline is a bit misleading, but it's not entirely false.
Part of the problem is while S.C. law says the flag will be blue and
have a white palmetto tree and crescent on it, that law does not set
specifications for their exact placement or design. As a result, some
variations have found themselves into the state flags produced by
competing flagmakers.
Growing up here in South Carolina, I've seen all the different flags variations, but I sort of always figured that the one in the upper left hand corner was the "official" flag. Maybe I just sort of saw that one most of the time. What about y'all? Which flag looks right to you?
As you can see, almost all of the students don't think it's "fair" that those who work hard should have their GPA lowered, with part of it being "redistributed" to raise the GPA of the students at the low end.
The best part is the reaction that the students had after they realized it was just a hypothetical to make them think about larger issues.
But after students discovered later the petition was a hoax played on
them by conservative students in an attempt to illustrate the
unfairness of wealth distribution, they hastily called a teach-in at the
campus union at which they denounced the effort and vented their
frustration.
Some students said the fake petition made them struggle with feelings
that they do not belong at Davidson, while others aggressively attacked
the video, calling it “oppressive,” “illegally filmed,” and
“inflammatory bullsh*t,” according to a video of the April 27 teach-in on Facebook.
So instead of examining their position on redistribution of income as potentially hypocritical, (or at least inconsistent when it comes to other things) these students got mad that they've been tricked into thinking about things.
Everyone is conservative about their own work. Other people's? Eh, not so much.
I hope everyone had an enjoyable Memorial Day. Now it's back to work and the regular routine. I'm going to try and be a bit better with the regular posting, since I sort of fell off the wagon lately. I'll be trying to at least one post a day, even if it's not a big in-depth one.
With that in mind, here are a few of the things I saw recently that were interesting:
1. Bryce Harper charges the mound on Hunter Strickland and goes nuclear. I have to say, I'm all in Harper's corner for this one. Strickland is upset about something that happened in 2014, and has been nursing a grudge since then? Come on, man. That's just sad. Move on dot org and stuff, bro.
3. Watch this trailer for the movie Lucky Logan. No, seriously. If you haven't already seen it, stop reading this, click the link, and watch teh trailer. It's worth the price of admission just to hear Daniel Craig (Yes, James Bond) cast as a redneck southerner with what my ear detects to be a high Alabama redneck accent. The man has some serious acting chops.
3. In news of the ironic, Germany's PM Angela Merkel said the "U.S. No Longer a Reliable Ally for Europe" which is pretty rich if you consider that it's all the European countries who aren't actually spending the agreed upon amount of GDP on their military. Maybe it's a good thing that Merkel said this, maybe Germany and the rest of the NATO members will decide to actually spend some money on defense rather than just being free riders.
4. In other baseball related news, USC Athletic Director (and former baseball coach) Ray Tanner has to decide whether or not Holbrook keeps the job as head baseball coach after missing the NCAA tournament two out of the last three years. If nothing else, go read the article for the first line.
I've been reading Bible stories to our five year old at bed-time, and we skip around a lot, but the story of Daniel in the lions den is one of his favorites.
Personally, I like the story of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, but I found this nice painting, so we're going with Daniel.
Daniel's Answer To The King - Briton Riviere, 1890
If it's a traditional early exit for the Gamecocks at the SEC Tournament, they will be lucky (Lucky!) to make the field of 64 for the NCAA baseball tournament.
(Omaha is the "Elite Eight" of the NCAA Tournament)
No, it's not a Revolutionary War re-enactment, it's better. It's a BBQ festival!
The Battle of Camden BBQ Festival, a barbeque contest to benefit the
Camden Jaycees’ Annual Stocking Fund, will take place on May 19th and May 20th
of 2017 at 222 Broad Street in Historic Camden, South Carolina. The
event will include a Chicken Wing Competition on Friday Night, barbeque
from some of the finest BBQ Competitors in the Southeast on Saturday,
delicious food and drink from local vendors, and live music both days.
This is a Battle with a Purpose: The festival is hosted by the Camden
Jaycees, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to improving the
lives of the most disadvantaged citizens in Kershaw County by providing
meals and toys to families during the Christmas season.
I'll be out there cooking with some friends, so if you make it out there, feel free to stop by our area and say hello. It's BBQ for a good cause; doesn't get much better than that.
I know that every so often, something comes along that is supposed to be the Next Big Thing, but this is not going to be it. I'm not sure what problem these folks were trying to solve with men's clothing, but this is not the answer.
First, there's no problem with men's clothing. We have shirts, pants, and (if it's hot and we're feeling casual) these things called shorts. They're like pants, but shorter, so you can stay cool.
There's really no need to combine the shorts and shirt into one item. It's really not necessary. I've never heard a guy say: "Bro, what I could really use is a shirt and and shorts item that is just one thing. This whole two pieces of clothing thing is so overwhelming and stressful."
Sorry Buzzfeed, this is the worst idea in a while.
Do you ever find yourself reading something and nodding along the whole time?
Yeah, I did that today with this column from Eric Erickson. Erickson begins by recounting all the breathless reports that have swirled around the Comey firing, and how they've been shown to be entirely incorrect.
He then makes the point that I think is beyond dispute:
Everything made sense and was justified, despite the partisan outrage. It was defensible, even if the timing looked bad.
But God help us all, the President felt overshadowed. He was
subservient to checks, balances, systems, and recommendations. So what
did the President do? He lashed out and said he’d made up his mind to
fire James Comey even before the Department of Justice recommendation.
On top of that, he said he would have fired Comey regardless of
Justice’s recommendation.
In one short interview, the President made liars of every single person
who mounted a credible defense of the decision — a decision that remains
defensible.
But the decision is not defensible if the President did it just because
Comey wasn’t loyal to him personally. The decision was not defensible if
the President did it because he felt personally offended by the FBI
Director.
The President’s behavior is juvenile and asinine. He undermines his
Vice President, his communications team, and the very foundational
reasons for firing Comey. He can’t help but make it about himself and in
so doing he undermines his own integrity in the process.
At some earlier point in the Trump administration, someone else came up with the "Inverse Rule of Trump", and this whole Comey thing is a textbook example.
The Inverse Rule of Trump posits that for everything the Trump Administration does, the less that Trump is directly involved in it, the more successful that action will be. However, the morethat Trump is directly involved in an action, the less successful that action will be.
With the Comey firing, everything was pretty defensible until Trump decided to just bigfoot everyone and make it all about himself. Now, Trump is facing even more legitimate criticism about the firing because he's gotten more involved.
Trump needs to take this advice and shut the hell up. Being Trump of course...he won't.
Indeed. I'll take the folks who go out to the cemeteries and care for the grounds, place a wreath, and solemnly observe the day over the flag-waving yahoos. It's a memorial day, not a celebration.
Jackson grave site, in Lexington, VA
Here's the statue of Jackson at his grave in Lexington, Virginia. It's a beautiful statue. When I look at it, I don't think of slavery, which has long been (and rightfully so) tossed into the ash bin of history.
Rather, I think of and remember the man's best attributes: his bravery, resourcefulness, and honor. Also, I don't think Jackson would hold with all these folks yelling and waving flags today. I think he'd rather you say a prayer for the thousands of men who died in a conflict that Shelby Foote called "The crossroads of our being".
.jpg)
