Image 01 Image 03

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

/var/www/vhosts/legalinsurrection.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/bridge-child/readFeeds.incFALSE

Gallup and the Knight Foundation released a survey of college students on the issue of free speech. The full report (pdf.) is here. I discuss the highlights below. Liberal writers at Vox and elsewhere are furiously trying to preempt the fallout from the survey arguing that a majority of students say they support free speech. The results of the survey, however, show that generic support for free speech is not reflected in student willingness to let free speech happen.

LATEST NEWS

Ted Cruz's Democrat opponent Rep. Robert O'Rourke just put a serious damper on his bid for a seat in the Big House (not that there was any serious competition before). Speaking at South by Southwest in Austin, O'Rourke said he doesn't think AR-15s should be sold to private citizens. Mind you, this is a TEXAS Senate race and us Texans have big love for our guns and our second amendment protections.

At South by Southwest, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his big plans to sue the oil and gas industry. Schwarzenegger claims the oil and gas industry intentionally caused climate change and "knowingly killing people all over the world." To date, no complaint has been filed, but Schwarzenegger said he is currently working with several law firms.

Earlier this week Senate Democrats introduced a tax plan designed to show what Democrats can be expected to do should they win back majorities in Congress. Their press release refers to their avoidance of "gimmicks and giveaways"; this appears to be a reference to the bonuses, pay raises, and private sector investment and job creation afforded by the new tax law.  All of which, the Democrat proposal would roll back.

Since President Trump's election, the left has morphed into a bizarre mixture of fascist groups "against fascism," free speech groups that fanatically shut-down speech with which they disagree, and pro-illegal immigrant groups that ignore DACA.  Among all this counterintuitive bluster are the anti-Trump leftists who have taken their Trump Derangement Syndrome to brand-new levels of cringe-worthy derangement.

After having my car keyed during the Bush era for a pro-president bumper sticker, I have avoided those with political slogans. As I live in California, in a veritable sea of soccer mom mobiles, having a distinguishing feature on my Honda is critical. So I chose "Star Trek Valedictorian".

Richard Landes is a brilliant man who has worked tirelessly for close to two decades to expose the biases and distortions present in worldwide media coverage of the Israel/Palestine conflict. I also count him as a friend. I've written about Landes and his work many times before. Among other things, he is the person who uncovered the media's compliance in shaping the Muhammed al Durah story into anti-Israel propaganda, and he also coined the phrase "Pallywood."

It's clear that Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) wants to be president.  What's not clear is in what country she wants to president. She wants to be president of a country with no borders, with a Supreme Court that bases its decisions on "feelings" rather than law, with few (preferably no?) gun rights for citizens, with "free" college, with government-run (i.e. single payer) healthcare, with severely restricted speech, with unrestricted abortion funded by taxpayers.  To be fair to Harris, this is the same imaginary country in which all Democrat presidential hopefuls aspire to be president. Harris' ongoing, if not yet announced, 2020 presidential campaign is currently focused on flouting foiling our nation's immigration laws.

The American Studies Association (ASA) adopted the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) academic boycott of Israel in December 2013. The academic boycott, which is considered a violation of academic freedom by the American Association of University Professors, was condemned by over 250 university presidents and numerous university associations.

The big news from California that Democrats are trying to promote is that there is over $6 billion in an unexpected budget surplus.
"We have to be on our guard. It's not exciting, it's not funding good and nice things, but it's getting ready" for the next recession, [California Governor Jerry] Brown said. But in the five months ahead of a budget revision in May, when the governor's Finance Department will offer updated revenue and spending figures, Democrats in the state legislature are likely to offer their own ideas about how to spend the state's $6.1 billion surplus, beyond the constitutionally mandated $1.5 billion contribution to the rainy day fund.