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Mazie Hirono: “I want a justice who won’t base her decisions solely on law”

Posted By on January 29th, 2022

https://hotair.com/allahpundit/2022/01/27/mazie-hirono-i-want-a-justice-who-wont-base-her-decisions-solely-on-law-n444546

“Quiet part out loud,” Dan McLaughlin tweeted about this word salad that she croaked out yesterday.

As is true with most Americans, Supreme Court nominations bring out the worst in Hirono. But her worst tends to be worse than the worst of most of her colleagues.

Not so in this case, though. This is standard liberal palaver about how judges should approach jurisprudence, encouraging them to begin with a progressive outcome and then work backwards to find some legal justification for it. “Living Constitution” fever — catch it:

Hirono stated, “What I’m looking for is a justice who can be fair and impartial and who does not have an ideological axe to grind, which is what we saw — as far as I’m concerned — in President Trump’s nominees, including to the Supreme Court. So, yes, I am expecting a fight, but there you have it. And I’m looking for someone who’s going to be, not only highly qualified, as all of the people that you already talked about are, but who really brings to the judiciary the kind of diversity that I’d like, that — someone who will consider the impact, the effects of whatever decision-making is on people in our country so that they are not making decisions just based on — which I would like them to base it on law, which would be nice and precedent and who are not eagerly trying to get rid of decades of precedent that would protect a woman’s right to choose, for example, and voting rights, etc. But I’d like a justice who also will take into consideration the real-life impact of the decisions he or she will be making.”

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Joe Biden, box office poison by Byron York

Posted By on January 29th, 2022

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/biden-box-office-poison

JOE BIDEN, BOX OFFICE POISON. Remember when President Joe Biden visited Georgia and the state’s Democratic star, gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, did not appear with him? Abrams said she had a “scheduling conflict,” which nobody believed.

Now, the “scheduling conflict” problem has spread to Pennsylvania. Biden is set to visit Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University to “discuss strengthening the nation’s supply chains, revitalizing American manufacturing, creating good-paying union jobs, and building a better America,” according to a White House press release.

The White House invited John Fetterman, the Democratic lieutenant governor now running for Senate, Josh Shapiro, the Democratic attorney general who will run for governor, and Conor Lamb, the Democratic representative from the Pittsburgh area, to appear with Biden. Only Lamb, who gave Biden valuable support in the state in 2020, said yes. Fetterman and Shapiro both begged off, citing those “scheduling conflicts.” Like Abrams, they did not say precisely what those “scheduling conflicts” were.

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Britain has a Muslim Anti-Semitism Problem By Dr Rakib Ehsan

Posted By on January 29th, 2022

https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/01/23/britain-has-a-muslim-anti-semitism-problem/

Rakib Ehsan is a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society and a patron of Muslims Against Anti-Semitism (MAAS).

Highly segregated communities have become breeding grounds for Islamism and anti-Jew hatred.

On 15 January, Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British Pakistani Muslim from Blackburn in north-west England, took four people hostage at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. In return for their release, he called on the US authorities to free Islamist terrorist Aafia Siddiqui from nearby Fort Worth prison. In a phone call during the siege to his brother, he said that ‘maybe [the authorities will] have compassion for fucking Jews’. An FBI hostage rescue team eventually entered the synagogue and shot Akram dead.

Despite the FBI’s attempt to downplay Akram’s anti-Semitism, he was clearly motivated by anti-Jewish sentiment. He targeted a synagogue. He used anti-Semitic language. And he was reported to the UK police a year ago for threatening to bomb and kill Jews. How did we get here? How has it come to pass that a British Islamist anti-Semite has carried out an act of terror at an American synagogue? And how should we respond to it?

Anti-Semitism in British Muslim communities

British citizens’ involvement in anti-Jewish Islamist terrorism is sadly nothing new. Back in July 2012, married couple Mohammed Sajid Khan and Shasta Khan were both jailed for planning terror attack on Jewish targets in Greater Manchester. After a domestic dispute at their home, police discovered a stash of terror-related material which included beheading videos, Islamist propaganda glorifying Osama bin Laden, and bomb-making manuals. Another married couple, Ummarayiat Mirza and Madihah Taheer, were both sentenced to prison in December 2017 for plotting a terror attack in Birmingham. Targets included a city-centre synagogue.

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ECHOES OF MUNICH

Posted By on January 29th, 2022

https://henryjacksonsociety.org/

We are currently living through what many observers regard as the most dangerous geopolitical crisis for a generation. Russia has massed a vast military force along its border with Ukraine and is threatening to unleash a full-scale invasion of the country if its demands are not met. The ensuing conflict would likely be the largest in Europe since WWII, with unclear but dire consequences for the entire continent.

At the heart of this crisis is one man’s refusal to accept the verdict of the Cold War and his burning resentment at modern Russia’s diminished standing on the global stage. Throughout his political career, Vladimir Putin has made no secret of his desire to revive Russia’s international prestige and address the perceived geopolitical injustices of the recent past. These imperial ambitions have found expression in Putin’s increasingly public obsession with Ukraine, a country whose very existence has come to embody the Russian ruler’s darkest fears and his many historical grievances.

A clear understanding of Putin’s Ukraine obsession is essential for anyone who wishes to make sense of the current crisis. Luckily, this task has been made considerably easier by the summer 2021 publication of a 5,000-word essay on the topic authored by Vladimir Putin himself.

Entitled “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” Putin’s remarkable treatise showcases his contempt for Ukrainian statehood and his belief in the artificial nature of the country’s current separation from Russia, which he blames on insidious outside influences. Putin the amateur historian states unequivocally that Ukrainians and Russians are “one people” and concludes by declaring “I am confident that true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia.”

The Russian president’s tract has certainly helped raise international awareness of his Ukraine obsession. British Defense Minister Ben Wallace recently penned his own article on the subject and drew many alarming conclusions from his sober analysis of Putin’s own words. “President Putin’s article completely ignores the wishes of the citizens of Ukraine, while evoking that same type of ethno-nationalism which played out across Europe for centuries and still has the potential to awaken the same destructive forces of ancient hatred,” noted Wallace. Nevertheless, relatively few Western politicians or policymakers appear to have fully grasped the scale or implications of Putin’s preoccupation with Ukraine.

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Soros Group Boasts of “Bullying” Justice Breyer Into Quitting Daniel Greenfield

Posted By on January 29th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2022/01/soros-group-boasts-bullying-justice-breyer-daniel-greenfield/

You may recall Demand Justice, backed by the Sixteen Thirty Fund’s dark money machine, trying to harass Justice Stephen Breyer into quitting last year.

Demand Justice, an advocacy group led by a former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), is pressing longtime liberal stalwart Justice Stephen Breyer to retire from the Supreme Court.

“We are now firmly in the window when past justices have announced their retirement, so it’s officially worrisome that Justice Breyer has not said yet that he will step down. The only responsible choice for Justice Breyer is to immediately announce his retirement so President Biden can quickly nominate the first-ever Black woman Supreme Court justice,” said Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice and a former top aide to Schumer.

Demand Justice has hired a billboard truck to drive around the Supreme Court with the message: “Breyer, retire. It’s time for a Black woman Supreme Court justice. There’s no time to waste.”

The group also launched an online petition asking signatories to “Tell Justice Breyer: Put the country first. Don’t risk your legacy to an uncertain political future. Retire now.’”

If conservatives had been doing this kind of thing, there would have been an FBI investigation and congressional hearings about an urgent threat to democracy. Since it was not just lefties, but radicals backed by the big lefty money machine, there was just awkwardness. Justice Breyer released a statement dismissing such efforts at pressuring him to resign.

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Can the President Constitutionally Restrict His Nomination to a Black Woman? by Alan M. Dershowitz

Posted By on January 29th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18178/can-the-president-constitutionally-restrict-his

Supporters of President Biden’s announcement will argue that there is a big difference between prohibiting a person from serving based on religion, race or gender, and affirmatively giving preference based on these criteria. That is sophistry. By limiting his choice to a Black woman, President Biden has disqualified every non-Black woman and man in America. There are a considerable number of highly qualified Black women, and I would applaud the nomination of any one of them. But that is not the issue. The issue is exclusion.

The Supreme Court has a long history of exclusion…. The Supreme Court was [for many years] an institution reserved primarily for white Protestant males. That was wrong and unconstitutional. But two wrongs, even if one of them is a “good” wrong, do not make a constitutional right.

The Black woman who is eventually nominated for the job will suffer reputationally from the president’s announcement. She will not be regarded as the most qualified person to be nominated, but only as the most qualified Black woman. That is insulting, even if not intended to be.

President Biden should direct Attorney General Garland to prepare a list of the 25 most qualified nominees. No one should be excluded on the basis of race or gender. Such a list, if fairly compiled would include several Black women. (It should not include Kamala Harris, because she might have to cast a tie-breaking vote on herself!)

Imagine a president announcing that since no Muslim has ever been appointed to the Supreme Court, he pledges to nominate the first Muslim justice. That would undoubtedly be unconstitutional since Article VI of the Constitution specifies that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

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What You See in DC is the Disaster Occurring When Far Leftists Get Full Power Kelly O’Connell

Posted By on January 29th, 2022

https://canadafreepress.com/article-video/what-you-see-in-dc-is-the-disaster-occuring-when-far-leftists-get-full-power

History contains the names of many ambitious leaders who promised paradise if trusted with power. But since earth contains no paradise, by definition, these charlatans inevitably disappoint. Calamity normally comes before their downfall. So, what’s happening now in DC is that Joe Biden has fallen on hard times and is now just a husk of a man, maneuvered as a puppet. 

Joe’s like a punch-drunk fighter who can’t gather his thoughts, so ideas must be prepared for him by his liberal minders. So, he’s an empty vessel mouthing the most profound dreams of the Democrat’s farthest radicals, ideas which cannot succeed—since paradise on earth is a hoax.

Democrats Cannot Survive This One-Party, Liberal Lunatic-Fringe Exposure

But here’s the question: Do the leftists calling the shots in Biden’s administration, who give him his talking points—do they really believe their policy ideas are good and true? Or are they just trying to ruin America? Perhaps they don’t differentiate such pedestrian questions, as for their dreams of world utopia to be realized, America must fall. But by what metric do these leftists feel they gain by ruining everything, including their own Party?

A very dangerous tipping point has finally emerged from this leftist cadre. Truth itself has already been challenged and rejected as a bourgeois trope of capitalism, aka Postmodernism. So, it seems what is taking the place of individual, verifiable truth—is the notion that groups create a reality which they then live by and force upon others, if possible. And this then is the justification and purpose of political and cultural power. 

CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, EDUCATION Comments turned off

Jordan Peterson resigns from University of Toronto, calls academia a ‘stunningly corrupt enterprise’ ‘I am academic persona non grata, because of my unacceptable philosophical positions,’ Peterson said.

Posted By on January 29th, 2022

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/jordan-peterson-toronto-resign-academia/

Popular Canadian clinical psychologist and cultural commentator Dr. Jordan Peterson on Wednesday announced his resignation as a tenured professor at the University of Toronto.

In a column for the National Post, Peterson explained that his decision to give up his teaching position was in large part over an avalanche of “Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity mandates,” which he called the “radical leftist Trinity” and acronymized as “DIE,” lamenting that they have been imposed “universally in academia.”

Peterson said he had “envisioned teaching and researching at the U of T [University of Toronto], full time, until they had to haul my skeleton out of my office. I loved my job. And my students, undergraduates and graduates alike, were positively predisposed toward me.”

But after encountering the relentless push of DIE protocols, he reluctantly concluded “that career path was not meant to be.”

The mandates “have been imposed universally in academia,” he stated, adding that “university hiring committees had already done everything reasonable for all the years of my career, and then some, to ensure that no qualified ‘minority’ candidates were ever overlooked.”

As a result of expanding diversity quotas, Peterson complained that his “qualified and supremely trained heterosexual white male graduate students (and I’ve had many others, by the way) face a negligible chance of being offered university research positions, despite stellar scientific dossiers.”

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Erdoğan’s Neo-Ottoman Ambitions Turning Eastward by Burak Bekdil

Posted By on January 28th, 2022

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18135/erdogan-ambitions-east

Obsessed with reviving Turks’ imperial days of glory, Erdoğan is turning to Turkey’s east to create a pan-Turkic/Islamist strategic alliance consisting of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan, with part-time, tactical alliances with Iran, Qatar and Bangladesh.

The idea is to bring together three Muslim nations: NATO member Turkey; Azerbaijan with its rich hydrocarbon resources and growing military capabilities; and Pakistan with its nuclear weapons.

It is not a coincidence that Erdoğan has visited Azerbaijan more than 20 times during his presidency.

Ankara appears to hope that the U.S. exit from Afghanistan has created space for the leadership role of Turkey and Pakistan.

It all looks promising. Except it is not.

The Turkey-led move to upgrade Turkic-speaking states’ cooperation into a political unit that could weaken Beijing’s and Moscow’s influence in Central Asia will no doubt come under close Chinese and Russian scrutiny.

In theory, Iran is Turkey’s “Muslim brother.” In reality, it is (Sunni) Turkey’s (Shia) sectarian adversary, historical rival and cross-border contender in Shia-majority Iraq and Shia-ruled Syria.

And, finally, Russia. Azerbaijan is still more of a Russian turf, than a Turkish one. More Azeris speak Russian than those who love to roar the Turkic slogan “one nation, two states.” Pakistan remains China’s strongest ally and appears happy to consider itself Chinese territory.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ambitious neo-Ottoman policy calculus has earned Turkey unprecedented international isolation. Turkey won the title of being the world’s only country that was sanctioned by all of the United States, Russia and the European Union in the past five years. Turkey’s negotiations for full membership in the EU have come to a halt and the European Council has started infringement procedures against NATO’s only Muslim member state. Obsessed with reviving Turks’ imperial days of glory, Erdoğan is turning to Turkey’s east to create a pan-Turkic/Islamist strategic alliance consisting of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan, with part-time, tactical alliances with Iran, Qatar and Bangladesh.

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America Appears To Be Edging Toward Recognition of Taliban Regime in Afghanistan

Posted By on January 28th, 2022

https://www.nysun.com/editorials/america-appears-to-be-edging-toward-recognition/91994/

America and its European allies, in what would be a final humiliation, appear to be moving toward recognition of — in effect, a surrender to — the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Following meetings with the Kabul regime at Oslo, the Western powers released a statement falling short of “official recognition or legitimization of the interim government.” Yet it outlines conditions for the Taliban to resume a role on the world stage.

The Western powers emphasized “the importance of respect for human rights” in Afghanistan as well as “the strong need for an inclusive and representative political system” in the war-torn nation. The Taliban was also encouraged “to do more to stop the alarming increase of human rights violations.” There were no promises of renewed funding in the statement, but it suggests aid could flow again if the Taliban reforms its ways.

Afghan opponents of the Taliban are calling it a mistake to hold the meetings at all. “We believe this conference was a form of appeasement by Western governments to a terrorist group,” a spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Resistance Front, Ali Nazary, tells the Sun. The Resistance Front — led by Ahmad Massoud, a son of the anti-Soviet fighter, Ahmad Shah Massoud — bills itself as “the last force fighting for the restoration of democracy in Afghanistan.”

The Western powers may be attempting to move toward recognition of the Taliban, Mr. Nazary says, but he predicts the effort will fail. “The Taliban will never be able to meet those conditions,” Mr. Nazary said. The Taliban is a “fractured group fighting among themselves” and is not able to present any coherent message to foreign powers. Under these circumstances, “their promises are worthless,” Mr. Nazary contended.