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December 2016

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 31, 2016 11 Comments
Wishing all Legal Insurrection readers a very Happy New Year, hopefully filled with whatever it is that is important to you. In past years I've tried to remember and give thanks for the people I've met through blogging, and some of the people I have yet to meet, like a Cornell student who sent me this message in 2012:
Dear Professor, It was with great joy that I found your blog last night. You are a breath of fresh air on this campus. Thank you very much for sharing your opinions and please keep up the good fight! Perhaps I will run into you one day on the Hill.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 31, 2016 7 Comments
A gunman dressed as Santa Claus killed at least 35 people at a Reina Club in Istanbul, Turkey, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day. From the Associated Press:
An armed assailant who is believed to have been dressed in a Santa Claus costume opened fire at a nightclub in Istanbul during New Year's celebrations, killing at least 35 people and wounding 40 others, according to Istanbul's governor Vasip Sahin and Turkey's state-run news agency. Sahin called the incident a "terror attack" but did not say who might have carried it out.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 31, 2016 9 Comments
Germany's Angela Merkel announced in her New Year's address that Islamist terrorism is the biggest threat facing Germany. Considering that this would likely not be the case if it weren't for her own open door policy, this is a startling admission.  Merkel went on to berate anyone and everyone who does not share her worldview, and insisted that all Germany needs is more laws and improved security to protect her people from the terrorist element she has welcomed with open arms. Reuters reports:
Islamist terrorism is the biggest test facing Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday in a New Year's address to the nation, and vowed to introduce laws that improve security after a deadly attack before Christmas in Berlin.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 31, 2016 23 Comments
The long, bleak, frustrating Obama era is soon over, and I couldn't be more pleased or more hopeful for the new year.  With that said, I thought I would join Kemberlee and Leslie in sharing my favorite posts from the past year, so without including posts mentioned elsewhere or further ado . . .

#5:  Hillary’s 1990s escape from criminal charges echoes Comey email decision

She will never be president, and it looks like that will be the only price she pays for her myriad questionable activities over the decades.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 31, 2016 15 Comments
For crying out loud. More fake news by the media. First outlets claim that Russia hacked the election and now they say that Russian hackers penetrated a Vermont power grid. Look at this Washington Post headline:
Russian operation hacked a Vermont utility, showing risk to U.S. electrical grid security, officials say.
NO. That is NOT what happened. The fact that the Post did not even bother contacting Burlington Electric makes this even worse.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 31, 2016 3 Comments
As the Christmas season concludes, and I look back on 2016, I have one thought: It's good that Halloween is my favorite holiday, as I seem to like scary things. It sure has come in handy when covering this year's cornucopia of news drama. I was delighted to see my post, Hillary Clinton’s Vulgarity Makes Trump Look Like Shakespeare, made the Top 10 List of Most Viewed Posts of 2016. Looking back, these are the other 5 posts that I was happy to be able to share with Legal Insurrection readers.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 31, 2016 9 Comments
Several right-leaning non-profit organizations have come together to urge the waning Obama administration to abstain from "midnight litigation". Any litigation instigated by the outgoing administration won't be shelved simply because a new regime takes control. Congress has no authority over such litigiousness either. The Obama administration has made a habit of legislating through bureaucratic agencies, so it's not surprising that these organizations are concerned about spending the next few years pouring valuable resources into battling politically motivated legal complaints.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 31, 2016 15 Comments
I have a dirty little secret -- I've been watching MSNBC since the election. It's just so glorious to see them suffer. Is that bad of me? The Free Beacon posted the other day a supercut of the Worst of MSNBC 2016.

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 31, 2016 2 Comments
As we wind down to the end of 2016, I thought it would be fun to create a list of some of our best higher education related posts. We've done so many that it wasn't easy to settle on just ten. Also, the list below isn't arranged in any particular order based on metrics like page views. They were all chosen by me based on the level of entertainment or the outrageous nature of the story. So here we go...

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 31, 2016 8 Comments
What a difference eight years makes. With few exceptions, our national media is confused and depressed about the prospect of President Donald Trump. Back in 2008 however, the media was downright giddy over the election of Obama. Some journalists even wanted George W. Bush to step aside early so Obama could be sworn in before January 20th. The Media Research Center recorded all of this for posterity:
December 15, 2008 - Must Swear In Obama Right Now “We can’t afford to waste an hour, much less a day or a week or a month. And this business of being a lame duck President and saying, you know, ‘Adios. I’m going to the ranch. I’m just not going to do very much during this period.’ We can’t afford it....We’re in possibly, possibly the biggest crisis we’ve been in since December 7, 1941, and maybe since the time of the Civil War. So, we can’t afford to have this interregnum.” — Ex-CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, December 5.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 30, 2016 4 Comments
The first A.F. Branco cartoon we posted, at our request with his permission, was on July 25, 2012. That cartoon, based on Obama's "you didn't build it" comment, is still one of my favorites of all time. Tony started posting his cartoons here on a regular basis not long after that. His first post as an author at Legal Insurrection was on August 2, 2012. We're going to have to throw him a party on his 5th Anniversary next summer, perhaps jointly with Aleister who also has been with us for 5 years next summer (originally to start up College Insurrection in August 2012).

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 30, 2016 24 Comments
On Thursday, President Barack Obama passed sanction against Russia for allegedly interfering with our presidential election. This includes expelling 35 diplomats and closing down two compounds. Two weeks ago, Politifact ran an article to call President-elect Donald Trump a liar about his doubts on Russia and accusing Obama of not acting against Russia until after Clinton lost. On Twitter, @neontaster pointed out evidence that contradicts Politifact's "facts." It turns out, the administration has known for months about Russian involvement and did absolutely nothing because they thought Hillary Clinton would beat Donald Trump. No concerns about our national security because they thought their candidate would win.
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