Earlier today the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation, a challenge to the constitutionality of the Bush Administration’s faith-based initiative. While billed as an establishment clause case, it may actually get decided on standing grounds. Specifically, the Court may rule that the plaintiffs lack standing as taxpayers to challenge the constitutionality of the program. Tony Mauro’s account of today’s arguments is here .
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Conflicting Reports on What Rosenstein Told Trump
At a White House meeting last week, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein reportedly told President Trump that he is not a target of an investigation. What’s not clear is which investigation.
Bloomberg reports that that the president was told that he is not a target Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ...
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Remember When Andrew McCabe Was a Martyr for Truth and Justice?
Not long ago, Andrew McCabe's firing was supposed to be a great offense against justice. Here is a pretty good example of the heavy breathing over it. Well, since then we've had a devastating IG report about McCabe's lack of truthfulness. Jonathan Turley had a good summation the other day:
At issue is the leak ...
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What Self-Help Guru Tony Robbins Was Trying to Say
Tony Robbins must have known immediately that he'd made a huge mistake in how he responded to a question about #MeToo.
Last month, at one of Robbins's popular, sold-out seminars, audience member Nanine McCool told the self-help guru that she thought he misunderstood the #MeToo movement. You can see the entire ...
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DOJ IG Recommends Criminal Charges Against Andrew McCabe
The Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has sent a criminal referral regarding former deputy director of the FBI Andrew McCabe to the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., a source familiar with the matter told CNN Thursday.
Hours before McCabe's scheduled retirement in March, ...
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The Dominant-Sport Theory of American Politics
I think it’s safe to assert that President Trump has an unfortunate tendency to do and say (and tweet) embarrassing things. When he does, we all join in the condemnation, and often it’s not so much for the substance as for the style. The president of the United States should be dignified, measured, slow to ...
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The Media Create a Schrödinger’s Presidency
For the duration of 2017, I did my best to keep a running tab of the media’s constantly evolving conventional wisdom on the Trump presidency.
What I found, in the timeline I created, revealed a great deal about the way political news and analysis are produced and consumed in an era when a hunger for chaos, ...
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Trump Seeks Middle Ground in Foreign-Policy Balancing Act
Was the latest round of airstrikes in Syria a one-time hit to restore deterrence and stop the future use of chemical weapons, or was it part of a slippery slope of more interventions in the Middle East?
President Donald Trump was elected in part because he promised an end to optional wars, such as those in ...
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Little Pink House Speaks Truth to Power
Coming soon to a cinema near you—you can make this happen; read on—is a bite-your-nails true-story thriller featuring heroes, villains, and a history-making struggle over . . . the Constitution’s Takings Clause. Next February 24, Little Pink House will win the Oscar for Best Picture if Hollywood’s ...
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No, Oklahoma’s School Spending Didn’t Fall ‘Nearly 30 Percent’
Late last week, Oklahoma’s teachers returned to school after a nine-day walkout — one that began after the teachers had already claimed a preemptive a 16 percent raise of $6,100 per teacher.
It was hard to argue against that raise. Oklahoma ranked 49th nationally in terms of median teacher pay, according ...
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