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June 2017

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on June 27, 2017 33 Comments
Appearing on today's Morning Joe, law professor Jonathan Turley noted that Chief Justice John Roberts teamed with Justice Anthony Kennedy to devise an exception to the Court's ruling of yesterday that permitted President Trump's travel ban to remain in place. Under the exception, the ban does not apply to foreign nationals with a "bona fide" relationship with a person or entity in the United States. Turley said that as of late, Roberts has been "swimming a lot in the middle of the pool," has become very Anthony "Kennedy-like," and would become the new swing vote should Kennedy retire.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 26, 2017 24 Comments
We reported yesterday on the exclusions of certain Jews from a "Dyke March" in Chicago when they were spotted carrying a Jewish Pride Flag, the classic rainbow flag with a Star of David in the middle, Psychosis-laced anti-Semitism: Anti-Israel LGBT activists ban Star of David from Chicago parade. In that post, we detailed the history of the anti-Israel movement embraced by some radical LGBT activists, despite the obvious detachment from reality of siding with one of the most homophobic societies on the planet (Palestinians) against one of the most enlightened (Israel). That detachment from reality is understood only by understanding how anti-Israel activists specifically have set out to hijack other movements and redirect them from the original cause to an anti-Israel movement.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 26, 2017 39 Comments
In the wake of the Supreme Court reinstatement of substantially all of President Trump's travel Executive Order, the left is responding as expected. Left-wing and Islamic groups are outraged and don't seem to understand the ruling . . . or the judicial role of the Supreme Court, while lefties on Twitter are in full meltdown mode. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a statement that appears to be premised on the 9-0 Supreme Court decision's failure to weigh the socio-cultural climate CAIR perceives rather than the law and Constitution.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 26, 2017 14 Comments
CNN has changed rules on how the company handles stories about Russia after the network had to retract and delete a story on Friday. BuzzFeed reported that CNNMoney executive editor Rich Barbieri sent out an email on Saturday that told employees they should not "publish any content involving Russia without coming to me and [CNN Vice President] Jason [Farkas]."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 26, 2017 9 Comments
Thursday, Senate Republicans released their long-anticipated health care reform bill. We discussed highlights of the legislation here. It's worth reiterating that this bill is only the first step (so we're told) in repealing and replacing Obamacare. The Senate GOP bill is limited in what it can accomplish for one reason — reconciliation. Senate Republicans are relying on the budget reconciliation mechanism to pass their first health care overhaul with a simple majority vote. Reaction on the right has been mixed. Some are calling it one of the Republican's greatest policy achievements and others are less than thrilled about kicking the Medicaid can down the road.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 26, 2017 1 Comment
British Prime Minister Theresa May has struck a deal with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to give the conservatives the slim majority it needs for May to stay in her role. The New York Times reported:
With the deal, which is reported to provide Northern Ireland with additional funding of up to $2 billion over five years, Mrs. May will be able to win a clear majority vote in Parliament on Wednesday on the legislative program her government set out last week. Without the support of the D.U.P., Mrs. May risked losing that vote of confidence, which would have opened the way for the opposition Labour Party to try to form a minority government of its own.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 26, 2017 7 Comments
Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Missouri Lutheran School who'd sued the state over the state's decision to withhold grant money. PBS summarized:
The case grows out of a lawsuit filed by Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Missouri, after it lost out on a grant for its playground in 2012 despite being ranked fifth out of 44 applicants.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 26, 2017 28 Comments
The Supreme Court has decided to hear a challenge from a Colorado baker, after the state charged him with violating the state's anti-discrimination law when he declined to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. From the LA Times:
Jack Phillips, the owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo., was charged with violating the state’s anti-discrimination law, which says businesses open to the public may not deny service to customers based on their race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. The state commission held that his refusal to make the wedding cake amounted to discriminatory conduct, and the state courts upheld that decision.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 26, 2017 82 Comments
[BREAKING - This post has been updated multiple times] In a per curiam Order (full embed at bottom of post), the Supreme Court agreed to hear the Trump Travel Order cases, and also substantially lifted the injunctions, with the exception of people seeking admission who already have a bona fide connection to the U.S. This represents a huge win for Trump. The key element of his Second Travel Order (the one at issue on appeal) was to exercise his constitutional and statutory power to exclude persons from the U.S. The lower courts effectively took that power away, and substituted their own judgments as to security threats. With a relatively narrow exception, that power has been reinstated to the presidency, pending a full decision on the merits of the case.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on June 26, 2017 13 Comments
In a transparent attempt at blame-shifting, former Obama spokesman Josh Earnest has tried to place responsibility for President Obama's failure to respond effectively to Russian meddling in the election . . . on Republicans. It's been reported that Obama was paralyzed into inaction by fears of seeming to help Hillary during the campaign. Appearing on today's Morning Joe, Earnest said:

"The first time, [McConnell] didn't have time to schedule time to talk about it. This is something that Republicans did not take seriously, and that did hamstring our efforts to respond to this as effectively as we would have liked."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 25, 2017 31 Comments
Claims of anti-Semitism are being made over actions yesterday by organizers of a "Dyke March" in Chicago to remove certain Jewish participants from the event because they carried a Jewish LGBT Pride Flag that had a Star of David in the Middle of a rainbow flag. The flag was alleged to be "triggering" to "pro-Palestinian" participants. I'll discuss the specifics below. Was it anti-Semitism? Objectively, yes.
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