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Posted by Mark Finkelstein on December 12, 2016 6 Comments
The notion that American academia is a liberal bubble and echo chamber is nothing that Legal Insurrection hasn't documented and decried a thousand times. But it is refreshing to hear that complaint coming from the lips . . . of a leading liberal journalist. Today's Morning Joe devoted a segment to self-described liberal Nicholas Kristof's New York Times column, "The Dangers of Echo Chambers on Campus." Key lines: "We liberals . . . too often, we embrace diversity of all kinds except for ideological . . . We champion tolerance, except for conservatives and evangelical Christians. We want to be inclusive of people who don’t look like us — so long as they think like us." Also encouraging was the panel's consensus in praise of the column, including by Dems Mika Brzezinski and Harold Ford, Jr., and even from fellow Timesman Jeremy Peters.

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Posted by Mike LaChance on December 12, 2016 37 Comments
It's difficult to think of anything less controversial than Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts crew but the classic Christmas special mentions Christianity explicitly which is a problem for some people. A staffer at a middle school in Texas decided to use imagery from the special as decorations but was told the decorations had to come down. Todd Starnes of FOX News reported:
School censors "Charlie Brown Christmas" poster One of the most poignant scenes in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is when Linus stands on a stage and recites a passage from the Holy Bible describing the Christmas story.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 11, 2016 9 Comments
Anti-Israel activism by faculty at colleges and universities receives a lot of media attention in part because campuses generally are open to the public and college students are able to report on what happens. Faculty-inspired anti-Israel activism, however, is not limited to colleges and universities. I hear many parents and students complain that by the time many students reach college, they already have been turned against Israel. Far under the radar, the attempt to demonize Israel is moving down the educational chain even into elementary schools, pushed by activists who accept no boundaries even for young children. Yet because such activities take place in schools to which access is limited, and the young students are not developmentally able to report on what happens, it's rare to obtain hard visual proof. We have such proof.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 11, 2016 15 Comments
The Wisconsin presidential election ballot recount is winding down. With a completion deadline of December 12, most counties are finished recounting their ballots. According to the Wisconsin Election Commission's spreadsheet, with the exception of Milwaukee, which counts its absentee ballots differently, most other counties have completed their recounts:

LEGAL INSURRECTION QUICK TAKES

Gender Studies Institute at Stanford Hosting Far-Left Journalist to Discuss Conservative ‘Bigotry’

Study Claims SAT Reading Section is ‘Less Demanding’ Than in Past Decades

Connecticut Teacher Escorted Out of School for Refusing to Remove Crucifix From Classroom

TPUSA Members: UT Tyler Attack Reflects Growing Campus Hostility Toward Conservatives

UT Austin Funds Graduate Student Research on ‘Reproductive Justice’

Texas Tech Regents Eliminate Several Race, Gender Studies Courses

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Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 11, 2016 33 Comments
Since the night of the election, when media coverage of election night went from joyous to stunned to near-weepy, the progressive left has been in a self-righteous lather about President-elect Trump's victory.  They are pulling out all stops in an effort to undermine President-elect Trump and his presidency.  Indeed, they seem intent on seeing that he not take office at all. Blaming everything and everyone but themselves and their candidate (with a few notable exceptions), the left took to the streets to riot, they took up their pens to advocate the end of the Electoral College, they bully and harass electors attempting to sway their votes, and they've recently landed on Russian involvement in the elections.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 11, 2016 18 Comments
California Tea Party activists have long battled the bureaucrats and politicians over policies related to water. One of the most well-known of the myriad of issues is the diversion of water from farms in the Central Valley (a major source of this nation's fruits and nuts....outside of San Francisco, that is). One goal of this reallocation of a prime agricultural resource is the protection of a bait fish known as the Delta Smelt. Last week, the House of Representatives easily passed a major water bill that includes emergency aid for Flint, Mich., and boosts U.S. ports, dams and waterways. This bill, known as the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), was initially co-authored by the notorious Senator Barbara Boxer, who infamously derided a Brigadier General for referring to her as "ma'am".

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 11, 2016 8 Comments
President-elect Trump sat down with Chris Wallace this morning and discussed a range of topics from the latest on Russia's purported hacking or influence in the election to his decisions on making government more efficient to his choices for his cabinet to trade. Fox News reports:
Trump, meanwhile, told Fox News he wants to make government more efficient, especially when it comes to the EPA.“EPA, you can't get things approved. I mean, people are waiting in line for 15 years before they get rejected, okay? That's why people don't want to invest in this country,” he said. “... So we're going to clean it up. We're going to speed it up and, by the way, if somebody is not doing the right thing we're not going to approve.”

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on December 11, 2016 33 Comments
Jennifer Rubin is the Washington Post's "right" columnist, though many people would dispute that designation. Rubin has made no secret of her Trump hatred, which came through today on MSNBC. Rubin branded several of Trump's cabinet and high level nominees "ignoramuses."
"I wish I could say that Ben Carson is the only person who doesn't have experience in his area. You mentioned Tillerson. We also have Terry Branstad, who is the ambassador to China. He's been the Governor of Iowa! And I like her, I think she's smart, Nikki Haley, terrific person, but she's going to the UN. But does she have any foreign-policy experience? So I think what we have are ignoramuses, billionaires, and a few generals."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 11, 2016 20 Comments
Just six days after a bombing in Cairo killed six policemen, another bomb explodes at Saint Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, killing 25 and wounding another 35 people.  The victims are believed to be mostly women and children. Hasam, a terrorist group linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, claimed responsibility for the first Cairo bombing, but no one has yet claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing Saint Mark's. CBS News reports:
A bombing at Egypt’s main Coptic Christian cathedral killed 25 people and wounded another 35 on Sunday, in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 11, 2016 23 Comments
Because I write so much about climate change, I am constantly barraged by fake news about the hoax-based science. The good news: The mainstream media has finally noticed the fake news problem. The bad news: The main stream media hasn't recognized it's a significant source of the problem. The ugly news: There are policies proposals being bandied about that are suppose to prevent the spread of "fake news" (i.e. news found on conservative and other sites that the progressive left want silenced).

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 10, 2016 36 Comments
What's doing with the Wisconsin recount? Things are moving right along:
All counties in Northeast Wisconsin have completed their presidential election recounts, two days ahead of a state-imposed deadline. Oconto, Outagamie and Winnebago Counties each finished recounting ballots by midday Saturday, the tenth day of the recount. All other local counties finished earlier in the week.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 10, 2016 15 Comments
Remember Julián Castro? I can forgive you if you don't and didn't. Castro was the former Mayor of San Antonio who was groomed to be the next rising star in the Democratic orbit. His stint as mayor, however, was not much of a base upon which to launch a national trajectory. As I noted in May 2014, Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio had less responsibility than Mayor Sarah Palin of Wasilla:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 10, 2016 11 Comments
One of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's promises on the campaign trail was to "drain the swamp," and a part of that, he announced during his "Gettysburg Address," would be his push for a Constitutional amendment requiring term limits for members of Congress. In October, I wrote about this promise:
Trump on draining the swamp: "[O]n the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, DC:
  • FIRST, propose a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress;"

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 10, 2016 38 Comments
Few signals could have been clearer that President-Elect Donald Trump is intending to undo the Obama administration's business-crushing energy policies than the nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency...after he spent a good portion of his career battling it. Another signal is now coming from his Department of Energy transition team, which is seeking the identities of climate change alarmists who permeate that agency.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 10, 2016 19 Comments
While this has yet to be confirmed by President-elect Trump or his team, NBC News is reporting that CEO Rex Tillerson will be nominated for Secretary of State with John Bolton serving as his second. NBC News reports:
Donald Trump is expected to nominate Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, two sources close to the transition process told NBC News on Saturday. Tillerson, 64, became president of the Texas-based oil company in 2004 and has a close business relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has spent his entire career at the company now known as Exxon Mobil.
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