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Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

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Identity politics seemed to help Democrats . . . until it didn't.  In the wake of their devastating presidential election loss in 2016, Democrats have steadfastly avoided confronting the myriad flaws in their "divide and conquer" strategy that centers on creating a seemingly endless number of imagined underclasses and then nurturing their outrage, fear, and dissatisfaction all the way to the ballot box. What little meaningful reflection on the devastation of the Democratic Party that has taken place since November has done so on the new fringes created by a seismic shift in the party.  Where once the radical voices screeched about the evils of America, now the more moderate establishment Democrats and pundits are the radicals, advocating moderation and realignment.

LATEST NEWS

Puerto Ricans went to the polls today to vote on possible statehood with America. The majority of people voted yes, but only 23% of the people voted, which could call into question the validity "of the nonbinding referendum." From The Wall Street Journal:
According to early results on a government website, statehood drew 97% of support with more than 90% of votes counted Sunday afternoon, but a turnout of about 23% reflected the success of a boycott effort led by opponents.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) and other members have showcased their ambitions:   the caucus wants to add welfare, health care, and tax reform all into one bill and pass it all by the end of the summer. The biggest stars of reform, health care and taxes, have caused the White House and members of Congress to butt heads. The White House wants to accomplish health care reform in the summer and take tax reform into the fall.

Que Twilight Zone theme.  Scott Johnson of the conservative blog Powerline has been served a draft subpoena ordering that he preserve records of items he noted in his blog posts. Judge James Robart, presiding over the Hawaii v. Trump "travel ban" case, authorized the move. Johnson writes:
These are strange days. I seem to have been caught up in the so-called “travel ban” litigation challenging President Trump’s executive orders “Protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.” Yesterday I was served with a letter and draft subpoena from one Tana Lin of the Keller Rohrback law firm’s Seattle office alerting me to my “document preservation obligations with respect to documents that are relevant or potentially relevant to this litigation.” Lin represents plaintiffs in Doe v. Trump, venued in the federal district court for the Western District of Washington.

The Special Counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller barely has gotten off the ground, and already there is a stench. That stench was created by former FBI Director James Comey, who admitted in testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee that he leaked, through a friend, memoranda purporting to document improper conversations between Donald Trump and Comey. Most important among those conversations was a February 14, 2017, one-on-one meeting in which Trump supposedly told Comey that Trump "hoped" that Comey would see fit to "let go" of the investigation into Michael Flynn. As described in Comey's prepared statement (emphasis added):

In May, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asked Congress to raise the debt ceiling before members take their summer recess in order for America to pay its debts. The ability to borrow money expired on March 16. Now Mnuchin has said that he and the department have started to formulate plans to fund the government until September if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling. From The Wall Street Journal:

Yesterday, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into a law a modification to the state's self-defense immunity statute, according to Reuters and other news sources. The self-defense immunity, generally mis-identified by media as a "stand your ground" law, provides for criminal and civil immunity for a use of force that is determined to constitute lawful self-defense.

Note: This is the final in our daily re-created coverage of the Six-Day War, which ran from June 4. Prior posts: 50th Anniversary of Six-Day War: The Eve of War; Six-Day War Day 1 — War Begins; Six-Day War Day 2 — At the Gates of Jerusalem’s Old City; Six-Day War Day 3 — “The Temple Mount is in Our Hands”; Six-Day War Day 4 — Egypt and Jordan Defeated; Six-Day War Day 5 — Golan Heights are Captured. Today, after 132 hours of fighting between Israel and her Arab neighbors, a cease-fire went into effect with Syria.

Just when you thought Obama's disastrous Iran deal couldn't get any worse, we learn that in order to protect the bad deal, Obama systematically disbanded units investigating Iran's terror-funding networks.  Not only that, but he also disbanded units investigating the state funding of terrorists by Syria and Venezuela. The Washington Free Beacon reports:
The Obama administration "systematically disbanded" law enforcement investigative units across the federal government focused on disrupting Iranian, Syrian, and Venezuelan terrorism financing networks out of concern the work could cause friction with Iranian officials and scuttle the nuclear deal with Iran, according to a former U.S. official who spent decades dismantling terrorist financial networks.

Batman star Adam West passed away at the age of 89 after he battled leukemia. From Vanity Fair:
“Our dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans’ lives. He was and always will be our hero,” his family said in a statement. West died peacefully in his home Friday night after a battle with leukemia, and is survived by his wife Marcelle, six children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The American media's obsession with James Comey has distracted them from covering important Trump Administration actions (i.e., the appointment of 11 conservative judges). President Trump has used Twitter and pressers like Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov used dog treats... to evoke a specific response. These diversions keep the "professional journalists" from noticing how rapidly and effectively Obama era policies have been ended. Friday's press conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is a great example.

The conservative Australian writer Andrew Bolt was in the news this week due to an incident which produced a viral video. In the footage, Bolt is attacked by two masked Antifa type thugs but hits them right back. News AU reported:
Protesters get more than they bargain for when Andrew Bolt bashes back CONTROVERSIAL columnist and TV personality Andrew Bolt has “clobbered” a group of masked protesters who set upon him in Melbourne yesterday. On his TV program last night, Bolt explained how he was about to launch a book on US President Donald Trump at a restaurant in Carlton, in the city’s inner north, when a woman asked to take a selfie with him. Before they could take the photo, two masked protesters set upon Bolt, spraying his face and suit with what he described as “sticky liquid with glitter and dye”.

Legal Insurrection readers may have noticed that I sometimes refer to President Donald Trump as "Master of the Unexpected." That is a term of endearment among Trump's fans who also love the 1963 epic, Cleopatra, as it refers to quote about Julius Caesar and his tactic that led to a victory over the Egyptian army. However, a New York theater group has taken that analogy to a much darker level.
Shakespeare in the Park, an annual summer program by The Public Theater that puts on plays by William Shakespeare in Central Park, kicked off May 23 with a performance of Julius Caesar.