How Hannity Was Hanoi-ed (sic) at VietNam Summit

Fox News political commentator Sean Hannity traveled halfway around the globe to cover President Trump's second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the VietNam Summit.  But had Hannity not improvised, he would not have made it to his live spot on time.  

Hannity found himself stuck in Hanoi traffic on the way to the studio for his US prime time show.  To avoid being an on camera no show, Hannity hopped aboard a scooter to make it to the set on time. 

Rejecting Tomi Lahren's Pink Slime Pro-Choice Perspectives

In offering analysis after President Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to be on the Supreme Court, Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren opined that conservatives seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade are effectively spitting on the Constitution.

Lahren has been outspoken in her adherence to abortion rights.  She was separated from Glenn Beck's "The Blaze TV" last year because of her inconsistent opinions about abortion.  This was sparked by an appearance on ABC's The View in which she argued that it was hypocritical to be anti-choice and be a small government conservative.    Beck insisted that he wanted to terminate Lahren for lacking intellectual integrity.

“I can’t speak for the company and why they did it, but it had nothing to do with being pro-choice...
What I have a problem with is somebody who will change their point of view or that will say absolutely crazy, red meat things, and not have any intellectual firepower to back it up. Have the intellectual integrity to be able to back things up.”

Now Lahren laments that some conservatives want a Supreme Court to carry out religious judicial activism to get rid of Roe v. Wade (1973).  Tantalizing pro-choice red meat but it like the pink slime substitute which some fast food outlets use to sell dollar menu items to a hungry public even though it causes indigestion.

Lahren assumes that any rollback of Roe would be premised on religious issues.  Even the Roe decision recognizes that government has interests in unborn life in the last trimester that is viable.  Prenatal medicine has made great leaps of advancement so viability is pushed closer to the 20th week of pregnancy.  No signs of religion in this hermaneutic. And that does not even consider the scientific fact that human life begins at the moment of conception

Pro-Choice jurisprudence currently rests on the shaky foundation of abortion as being included in a right to privacy that is within  penumbras and emanations of the Bill of Rights, as applied to states by the Fourteenth Amendment.  Justice Blackmun's holding in Roe is a quintessential example of judicial activism, legislating from the bench for the entire nation.

Conceptually, a texualist originalist led Supreme Court could rule that "the right to privacy" is not enumerated within the Federal Constitution and that the Tenth Amendment is applicable.  This would throw the abortion issue back to the states, where it resided prior to the 1973 judicial fiat.  Some states, like California and New York, would have liberal abortion laws, while other states may be more restrictive.   That sort of subsidiary jurisprudence sounds like small government conservatism.

Maybe Lahren's political science studies at UNLV did not adequately cover jurisprudence.  She seems to think that it is unconstitutional for the Supreme Court to overrule bad precedent or is judicial activism.   In his confirmation hearing to become Chief Justice in 2005, John Roberts noted that stare decisis does not hold as a legal precedent when a matter was wrongly decided.  But in Tomi Lahren's legal logic, Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that overturned the Separate but Equal standard of  Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) was just spitting on the Constitution too. 

It is lamentable that Fox News turns to Tomi Lahren for legal analysis.  In little more than a year, she has shifted her abortion rights advocacy from being premised on what she believes is small government conservatism to combating religious judicial activism.  No wonder she burned her bridge at The Blaze TV for lacking intellectual integrity. 

Some may want to consume pink slime perspectives because they are spicy tasty morsel temptations, but assuredly many leave the establishment when such dreck is  seen on the television menu.

Is Mark Warner Intoxicated on Intelligence?

During a Majority Trust Retreat Dinner for the National Democrat Campaign Committee in Martha's Vineyard, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), the Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee jested that if you gave him another glass of wine, and he would reveal tantalizing details about the Mueller Special Counsel investigation.



  While this cryptic comment can be passed off as sparkling wit during a wine, brie and rubber chicken fundraiser, this discounts the candor which is afforded to high rolling donors. Rush Limbaugh recalled attending a soiree for big donors to President George W. Bush.  Rush recalled that unlike his cautious, stammering public persona, "W" was entirely a different guy when cameras were not focused on him.  Once assured that the remarks were off the record, Mr. Bush spoke with candor and the President opined without notes for 45 minutes about serious subjects without stuttering. 

Limbaugh insists that teasing big money donors with bogus political bombshells is not done. Deceiving deep pocket donors risks alienating their pocketbooks in the future.  

This may be why President Trump chronicled Warner's supposedly tipsy insinuation.  

Taken at face value, Democrats are colluding with the Special Counsel. In addition, they are relying on precursors of impeachable offenses to base their midterm election campaign.  This could explain why Vanity Fair proclaimed that Mueller could give the GOP an October Surprise. 

If it is the case that Warner has advanced intelligence about the Mueller investigation, why is information on an active case being leaked to a key Democrat?   Is Warner intoxicated with illegal insider intelligence or just intoxicated on power?

President Trump on Immigration Bills

Charles Krauthammer on Understanding the District of Calamity

Charles Krauthammer, the renowned conservative commentator, has not been seen on Fox News in ten months.  Viewers knew it it was for health reasons.  But today, Krauthammer released a letter to bid all farewell.  It seems that as he was on the verge of recovery from abdominal cancer surgery last October,  the cancer returned and he may only have a few weeks to live.

In this letter, Krauthammer graciously thanked his colleagues, viewers and readers hoping that he played a small role in conversations that help guide our nation's extraordinary destiny.

Honoring Krauthammer's wit and wisdom, it is worth savoring this pearl on how to understand Washington.




Although Krauthammer does not hold religious convictions, it has been a blessing to have him be a thoughtful conservative commentator for decades after initially serving as Vice President Mondale's (D-MN) speechwriter.  

On Giving the Lone Eagles Salute to White House Honors

It has been a long standing tradition that winners of national sports championships are invited to the White House to be feted.

The Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl championship in 52 years in the NFL by beating the New England Patriots.  The underdog Eagles were slated to visit the White House but the event was cancelled when only nine of seventy team personnel were confirmed to visit the South Lawn ceremony, again dragging politics unto the sports field.

While it is true that no Philadelphia Eagles players Took the Knee during the Francis Scott Key Star Spangled Banner, some players raised their fists, akin to the Black Power salute during the 1968 Summer Olympics.  But by skipping the White House honors was intended as a progressive protest against the winner of the 2016 Presidential election, President Donald J. Trump.

Lest one excuse their absences from the White House ceremonies as not just flipping the bird at President Trump, consider the invitation by the Mayor Jim Kenney (D-Philadelphia) to visit Philadelphia City Hall for alternative honors.



President Trump reacted to the Philadelphia Eagles recalcitrance to attend the White House ceremonies, so he disinvited the NFL championship ceremony and in its stead opted for a patriotic pep rally.

The NFL recently changing their rules to require players on the field to stand for the National Anthem (but allowing them to stay in their locker rooms) to mitigate the mire that has been festering since Colin Kaepernick started protests during the National Anthem in 2016. Ratings for the NFL have significantly dipped since the National Anthem protests.  Moreover, President Trump has often weighed in to support respecting civic rituals which honor our nation as embodied in the National Anthem.

Clearly the NFL owners made a business decision, but it mirrors the wishes of many erstwhile pro football fans to have an avocation away from polemic politics. Alas, the progressive instinct is to politicize everything.  There are rumors that some NFL players are saying that they will sit out the 2018 season until Colin Kaepernick is signed as a quarterback and is not penalized for taking his knee during the National Anthem. It is a pity that the Philadelphia Eagles organization used South Lawn ceremony as another extension of partisan warfare by trying to give President Trump the Lone Eagle salute.  But this allowed the populist President to counter-punch and reinforce values which appeal to many coalitions of new Republican voters as part of the Great Revolt.

Congressional Dissonance on Jim Comey

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On Constitutional Push Back to California's Sanctuary State Law

San Diego County voted in with a 3-1 margin to defy California's Sanctuary State law.  In October 2017, Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA) signed SB-54, which was passed by the Democrat majority in the California legislature, which vastly limited who state and local law enforcement can hold, question and transfer at the request of federal immigration authorities.  Basically, the Sanctuary State law mandates that California's law enforcement officials defy federal immigration law. 

When appearing at the National Press Club, Governor Brown highlighted his intractability to enforcing existing federal immigration law as he proclaimed that California National Guard troops would not perform immigration enforcement activities, including vehicle repair or monitoring security cameras.

Some California municipalities and local governments have formally voted to follow federal law, which is contrary to SB-54.  Many of these jurisdictions have joined in the Sessions Justice Departments lawsuits regarding SB-54, AB 450 which prohibits employers from allowing warrant-less access to non public workplace areas and AB 103 which enjoins local governments from expanding or making new contracts for new civil immigration detention centers.

On the Scooter Libby Pardon

Alan Dershowitz on the Mueller Special Counsel

Dan Bonino on Investigating Crime

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Warns of a Blue Wave in November

Are GOP Congress Critters Really RINOS or Conservative Chameleons?

After the way that Establishment Republicans acted in their profligate  $1.3 TRILLION  for the remaining six months of FY 2018 in the Omnibus spending bill, one wonders if how Republicans ought to be portrayed.

Traditionally, the Grand Old Party's symbol is an elephant (remember?).  Cynics charge that they should be exposed as RINOs.  But considering they way many Congressional Republicans change from being a fiscally conservative party when they strive for power and then profligately spend when they are in charge, perhaps they would be better depicted as conservative chameleons.  But can they survive if the proverbial swamp is drained in the District of Calamity (sic).  

House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes: "The media is dead"

Mika Brzezinski on Talking About Gun Control Immediately After the Florida School Shooting

Less than a day after the Parkland Florida School Massacre, in which at least 17 people were killed, MSNBC Anchor Mika Brezinski was insistent about having constructive talk about solutions.  Considering the midtown Manhattan mores of the mainstream media, this mean venting about gun control. Brzezinski threatened to unbook any guests on the Morning Joe who wanted to defer this constructive talk to either wait for confirmed details or out of respect for the victims' families. 

It is natural as members of the media cover this travesty live, they will opine supposed "answers" to make sense of the mire.On Fox News, conservative Sean Hannity got on his hobby horse for his entire hour in prime time to push for all schools to hire armed veterans for school security. For cash strapped districts, a guest suggested having federalized security, like the TSA.  The morning after the Parkland School Shooting, Salem Radio's centrist Republican Hugh Hewitt wondered why there was not a "No Buy List" for mentally troubled individuals. While that touches on the mental health aspect, it raises issues about an over expansive no-buy list, as Obamacare barred many Veterans diagnosed with PTSD from exercising their Second Amendment rights.

Although there are many indications that the shooter had a troubled teen with many mental illness markers, inevitably the knee jerk reaction for this so called "constructive talk"  will be a gun grab or advocating measures like a better background check (which have already been instituted).

Just as reality shows are somewhat scripted, Morning Joe is positioned to proffer reliable perspectives. Mika's booking benchmark shows how progressive will not let a good crisis to go to waste to grab guns.

Joe Di Genova on Feeding the FBI False Information

Trey Gowdy on the Steele Dossier

On the Missing FBI Texts

On Illegal Immigration and the Schumer Shutdown

Some Thoughts Should Be Kept Close to the ScotteVest (sic)

Scott Jordan is an entrepreneur who developed a line of clothing which allows for fashionably carrying gadgets within the garments.  Jordan even went on ABC's Shark Tank in 2012 in a bid to raise funds for his technology enabled clothing (but Jordan  rejected the the offers). 

ScotteVest snowballed into a $10 million company by 2015.

ScotteVest's pricey e-commerce product line  were often seen advertised on Fox News, presumably to appeal to geeky traveling businessmen who tired of fumbling gadgets when they went through TSA lines.

ScotteVest CEO Scott Jordan may have unraveled this fashion market niche by oversharing on social media.  Scott Jordan had developed a reputation of being an outspoken CEO on social media, pumping products and pimping his progressive politics. However Jordan recently shared on Facebook a smarmy post which revealed marketing strategy while denigrating his customers.

While one could certainly see a small time celebutard who is full of himself to contemptuously sneer at the little people on whom you've made your millions while taking a chair lift in Ketchum ski resort.  But it is almost unfathomable that he would share this "burn" on social media. It really makes one wonder, to use Jordan's parlance, who is the "f**king idiot?

After Jordan's Facebook faux-pas festered for a few days, the ScotteVest CEO posted an incomplete apology on Twitter, which linked to the original Facebook post. Unfortunately, the Facebook post had been deleted.  

No doubt that this story certainly won't make ScotteVest's media buzz page. But the internet never forgets. The question is whether ScotteVest's customers will be willing to forget that they are considered to be gullible f**king idiots" by the guy profiting from their sales.

Social Media is a wonderful way for companies to reach customers. One need not be "Always Be Closing" when sharing on social media and genuineness is a way to cement bonds with fickle customers of an expensive, niche products.  But denigrating the demographic which lined one's pockets is an odd way to reach out to customers.  A smart CEO would have kept his crass critiques of customers closer to his ScotteVest. 

Enjoy your  après-ski canapés and hope that your cup is not forever full of sour grapes. 

Knob Hill Ski Lodge, Ketchum, Idaho