Almost Like Journalism

The Times reports on decisions at the DoJ to decline to defend two laws. One is the Affordable Care Act. The other, which apparently has experts divided, involves a technical dispute (what makes this a Federal and not state-level offense? See BACKGROUND below.) about a 1996 ban on female genital mutilation (hard to feel the political wind blowing from the right in favor of overturning that ban, inspired by immigrant behavior, but here we are...)

Sparking my ire is this ahistorical diatribe, my emphasis:

While there are important differences between the two cases — Republicans have attacked the Affordable Care Act in the courts for years, while legal experts are debating whether the circumcision law is defensible — critics were troubled by what they fear is an emerging view inside the Justice Department that it is up to the Trump administration, not members of Congress, to decide whether a law has merit and should be enforced.

“Imagine a world where an administration of one party passes a law and then a different president effectively invalidates it by having the Justice Department refuse to defend it in court,” said Joshua Geltzer, the executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law School.

“You want elected lawmakers to draft laws, not lawyers at the Justice Department,” Mr. Geltzer said.

Wow, to imagine that I'd have to imagine a President explaining he can't act until Congress changes the current law and then imagine that same President reversing himself after the legislative effort stalls and unilaterally instructing the DoJ to simply exercise its prosecutorial discretion and decline to enforce the law. Unthinkable!

Or if that memory is too raw, what about that other Clinton legacy project, the Defense of Marriage Act? The DoJ cut that loose as well in response to a shift in the political winds, that time from the left.

For the Times to pretend even for a second that this is a new problem under Trump is absurd.

BACKGROUND on female genital mutilation issue:

In drafting that law, Congress relied on its power to regulate interstate commerce. Lawmakers had increasingly used that authority to overcome the fact that they cannot simply make local crimes federal matters, no matter how evil, unless they violate some federal power that Congress wields.

“For this to work, Congress has to show that there is some connection between the criminal conduct and interstate commerce,” said Mr. Dellinger, now a partner at the O’Melveny & Myers law firm.

But in 2000, four years after the female circumcision law was enacted, the Supreme Court examined Congress’s use of the Interstate Commerce Act in drafting the Violence Against Women Act. In that case, United States v. Morrison, the government lost in part because the court had greatly narrowed Congress’s ability to use its power over interstate commerce to draft criminal laws.

Last year, in the first court case involving the genital mutilation law, the judge in Michigan cited the Morrison case to rule that Congress had failed to clearly draw a connection between interstate commerce and the practice of female genital mutilation.

In his letter to Ms. Feinstein, Mr. Francisco sent a list of possible changes to the law to strengthen the connection with interstate commerce and keep the ban on female circumcisions in place, like outlawing the use of the banking or telecommunications systems to perform the act.

“Essentially, the Justice Department is urging Congress to fix the law before a case gets to the Supreme Court, where there is a good chance it would be struck down,” Mr. Dellinger said, adding that the government’s action in this case was appropriate. “The constitutional fix is relatively straightforward, and should be uncontroversial.

Nothing is uncontroversial. This will be portrayed by some nutter somewhere as an attempt to attack immigrants and embarrass Ilhan Omar.

Comments

[D]

He is number 4 and his team was able to play in Ireland in March of this year.
They played in Galway and Dublin.
He is Captain of his team and was recruited to play at St Bonaventure in the fall.It is a school in upstate New York near Holiday Valley Ski Resort.
Their basketball team gets in the March Madness basketball competition every few years.
I think if Frederick wants to branch out after his football experience, he might like Rugby.
How is the Crew going?

[jimmyk]

On the topic: Why don’t states (all 50) pass anti-FGM laws? I’d rather the power of the feds and the commerce clause be greatly reduced, and have this law thrown out, then condone some expansive reading of the Constitution, when states can easily enough remedy the problem.

Alternatively, isn’t there an emanation and penumbra giving females this right?

[Jim Eagle]

I played Number 4. So he must be tall? Locks usually are tall and are the line out targets. Frederick and I toss the Rugby ball around from time to time and he watches with me when he is home.

Good for him to play the teams in Ireland since it is a college (HS) sport there as in the UK.

Good to know there are young me out there who are "gentlemen playing a ruffians sport:)"

[Extraneus]

On PBS, Never-Trumper David Brooks Backs Reparations, Due to the 'Election of Trump'

On reparations, I support them, but not for the reasons Joe Biden says. It's not an act of guilt. It's not an act of, we did something wrong. It's a show of respect. It's a show of respect for the injustices that minorities, members of the African-American community have suffered in our society for hundreds of years, not just slavery, but red-lining and all the way up to the president.

So we show respect, and we do it as an act of regard and as an act of resetting. And I have just come to the conclusion. I changed my mind about it, because the practicalities of doing it are really hard. But I changed my mind about it because it just feels like we're in a make-or-break moment on race. The election of Trump, the atmosphere this has created has created a movement where aggressive gestures have to be taken to show that we're all part of the same country.

[Jim Eagle]

F**K David Brooks and the horse he rode in. He is an elitist who only writes to appeal to the UWS of NYC (jimmyk excluded). Let the billionaires who read him and subscribe to the Times be the first to put money in the pot.

[Captain Hate]

Brooks is such an idiot. We finally have a President who treats blacks like adults, and getting positive feedback from it, and Massa Dave wonders what dem darkies will do wiffout handouts. Earth to Brooks: adults know when they're being pandered to.

[jimmyk]

I’m sure reparations will result in an instant drop in the black community’s crime rate, single motherhood, drug usage, etc. and of course there will be no further need for affirmative action.

[Extraneus]

Affirmative Action = Reparations.

[Jim Eagle]

Koepka having a hard time with short putts.

[Jim Eagle]

Exactly, EXT and jimmyk. Getting accepted to Ivy without the grades or SAT's is not the same as reparations, then joining a law firm at $300K or a teaching job, is the same damn thing.

[Sidwhite]

Jimmyk
if I wrote the first constitution change it would be that exemption allowing federal laws regarding commerce between the states clause is applied only to the actual commerce between states. Does not apply to any intrastate transactions, whether or not same item is traded interstate. The court has made the interstate commerce restriction pretty much totally meaningless.
Next, the second amendment would be clarified to specify that the "arms" the government couldn't infringe are any devices the congress allows the military to use and purchases as arms. Arms means arms! I personally think that was the framers' intent.

[Jim Eagle]

Catsmeat, when you show up, I am 1/3rd the way through but the Masters has taken over. Can we substitute the test for that?

[D]

JIB:
He is the tallest in his team at 6/4.
No one lining up for a reparations hand-out was ever enslaved.
All Blacks are respected by me, therefore I don’t owe them any money.
Dems have all loser issues. None of their candidates can beat President Trump.
Most are building organizations for 2024.
I will be 75 then.
We, Republicans-have many fine candidates to choose from at that time.
With Obama , the Dems had their last rodeo.

[D]

I will read the book Catsmeat as long as there is no final.

[Jim Eagle]

Lefty, at 48, birdies 12.

[Buckeye]

Well just got the invite to my youngest niece's graduation party.

She is headed to Case Western to do a BioChemistry/Pre-Med undergrad. Basically full ride merit based scholarship. Her dad says he might have to pay for her Starbucks:)

She might be the smartest yet of her cousins.

Valedictorian, 1600 SAT, 36 ACT

When she talks, even Jr. listens:)

[D]

Dems want to keep Blacks on the plantation.
Candace Owens is a voice for them to break free from victim hood and embrace success and participate fully in the American dream.

[Jim Eagle]

MR,

Now how did I guess that? His height? He has a promising career in Rugby as a Lock Forward. Does he watch NBCsn of the Premier League in the UK and the Euro championships? He should even on YouTube.

[D]

Buckeye:
Those are perfect scores which means she is a National Merit finalist.
My nephew attended Case Western in civil engineering.
She will receive a wonderful education there.
I am so happy when hard working students are rewarded for their accomplishments.

[Beasts of England]

I'm sure reparations will heal all the race wounds. Other than the hundred million new hardcore racists it instantly creates.

[Extraneus]

Rep. Ilhan Omar attacks President Trump in scathing statement after controversial 9/11 video

Tweetstorm at the link.

[Jim Eagle]

Weren’t all the cotton speculators in the New York Mercantile Excange, pre CME? Let’s start there, and their families.

[henry]

Make the illegales pay the reparations. That way everyone wins. ;)

[Jim Eagle]

I for one love having Omar, AOC, and Tlaib in the spotlight. They will do more damage to the Dems just by Respondinf to every comment.

[Extraneus]

Imagine if we paid reparations in the 1960s instead of instituting race-based preferences?

[Extraneus]

I wonder who wrote those tweets for Omar. It sure wasn't her.

[Jim Eagle]

Whoa! Buckeye. Super academic perfotmence by niece. Did she apply to any academies? They need more like her than the dumbed down legacies they are getting. Serious issue. Most not even physically qualified.

[Beasts of England]

'I for one love having Omar, AOC, and Tlaib in the spotlight.'

I read an article the other day from a dem strategist who warned the left not to get trapped by the rants of their vocal but tiny Twitter Mobs. Those three dimwits are heroes of the leftist twitterazzi and I encourage their every utterance as well, JiB.

[MissMarple2]

Well, good news. Despite what the carton said, it WAS the correct toilet seat, and I got it installed! All by myself!

The only thing that gave me problems was the directions' line drawings, which did not compute to my brain. So, I went to their web site where they had a very easy-to-understand video which made perfect sense, and voila!

All done!

[rich]

Posted by: Beasts of England | April 13, 2019 at 04:30 PM

so much for that honest conversation and putting in an affirmative action hire as president ... so much healing.

[henry]

Nice wrenching Miss M!

[henry]

Wasn’t the Pigford scam all the reparations they could need? Who sucked up that money?

[Beasts of England]

We're a nation of racial cowards, rich. Eric 'Wingman' Holder told me so...

[rich]

Posted by: Extraneus | April 13, 2019 at 04:48 PM

created tens of millions of hard core racists ... it is such a dumb idea, i'm not surprised brooks supports it ...

[Beasts of England]

'All by myself!'

Did you have to use a voltmeter? ;)

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

Threesomes tomorrow CBS starts coverage at 9AM.

Players start times begin at 7:15.

The weather is due to be VERY nasty in the afternoon.

[caro]

Notice! Final-Round Tee Times Adjusted Due to Weather

Given the possibility of severe weather Sunday afternoon, groupings and tee times for the final round will be adjusted.
Players will be grouped in threesomes with tee times scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees. The leaders will tee off at 9:20 a.m.
Gates are scheduled to open at 7:15 a.m.
CBS will broadcast the final round live, beginning at 9 a.m.

“The safety of everyone on our grounds is paramount,” said Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament. “We also believe the earlier start will give us the best opportunity to complete the Masters on Sunday. This decision should benefit everyone – the players, our patrons and our fans watching around the world. Given the competitiveness and drama of this year’s Tournament, we look forward to an exciting conclusion tomorrow.”

[MissMarple2]

Beasts,

No and nice try!

I do need to get a wrench to do the last tightening, as the tool box I have doesn't have the right size. However, it will last just fine until I get back to the hardware store.

I don't own a voltmeter because I do NOTHING involving electricity due to being badly shocked when I was a kid. As far as I am concerned, if you get too close to wall plugs, the electricity will jump out at you. I always have my brother, the electrician, check stuff like that.

[Buckeye]

JiB

No she didn't apply to any of the academies. She is athletic and I think she would be physically qualified, but no military tradition in her family, outside of my dad who died long before she was born.

Did I mention she is 5'3", petite, blonde, blue-eyed and really attractive. Some guy is going to hit the jackpot someday.

Both my BIL and sister are very level headed and down to earth. He is the doc that runs Mercy's Urgent Care and Occupational Med programs.

She did get accepted at Harvard, but decided that she wanted to save her papa the bucks.

She will probably hit him up when she is in med school:)

[Beasts of England]

I believe the times posted above are EDT, so get your Bloody Mary mix and celery this evening, peeps!! 😋

[Buckeye]

You need to start working up a story about that new Vette to maximize the hassle factor for Tom K to think his monster is worthless piece of crap.

You just know Tom won't be happy once his Vette isn't "king of the hill" anymore:)

[Captain Hate]

I'm ready for that honest conversation, Stedman; although I doubt you are...

[peter]

seems like a good time to buy last year's model Vette which will be steeply discounted, and likely just as fast and more reliable. (You don't think GM worked out all the bugs on the new one before release?)

[rich]

Posted by: Captain Hate | April 13, 2019 at 05:19 PM

too bad he won't get roped into the spying scandal, but would like to see him brought low.

[rich]

caps tied with the canes and nats tied with the pirates

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

The suspension on a vette is like a bullfrog bumping his ass on the ground. Hate em. Sorry.

[Beasts of England]

Is this the new mid-engine Corvette y'all are talking about? I saw a spy court-ordered surveillance photo and it looks rather serious.

[Beasts of England]

Three 64s carded (so far) today. That has to be a record of some kind... ⛳️

[Buckeye]

Well, like MT says, I just have to position myself to buy Tom's C7 when he thinks it isn't the ultimate anymore.

[Jane]

Holy cow! Tiger rocks! I had to leave Happy Hour early because there was no TV.

[rich]

caps up and nats down

[Buckeye]

Beasts

There is video of the Chief Engineer and Mary Barra tooling around Manhattan in a prototype that just hit YouTube yesterday.

Yes it looks serious.

If you get one, Stephanie doesn't want a ride:)

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

The go fund me for the MOA child is at $185,000 in 6 hours!

[Captain Hate]

Vettes are quintessentially American versions of a sports car; good for nothing specifically but fun to drive, even those dogs of the 80s that had all the sleek grace of a wingtip. Even dropping a 427 in them did nothing on the quarter mile compared to other muscle beasts.

[MissMarple2]

Stephaie,

I just got done reading the prayers thread for that boy.

I pray he pulls through.

[Jane]

Who is MOA, the kid they threw off the ledge?

Tiger has made my day!!!

[Beasts of England]

I think GM owes my old F430s some form of reparations, Buckeye!! lol

[Pinandpuller]

A bank on the island of Guernsey asked her to close her account as it was obviously being used to issue bribes.

Posted by: Jim,SunnyvaleCA,USA | April 13, 2019 at 10:48 AM

It could be they took her for a White Nationalist. I know, just kidding.

[Captain Hate]

too bad he won't get roped into the spying scandal, but would like to see him brought low.

Depends if they want to finally look at Fast and Furious under a real microscope. Other than that, the things they will concentrate on were probably after him. Just getting him to permanently STFU is something I'd appreciate.

[henry]

Had a 62Vette for a while, now my brother has it (was my dad’s). Lotsa zoom on skinny bias ply tires. Plus some radial meats on it and much more fun. But nice for cruising about if you can find a good am station and drive long enough for the tubes in the radio to warm up. :)

[Captain Hate]

The pre Stingrays with 327/375 were the best.

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

Who is MOA, the kid they threw off the ledge?

Yes. The kid that was tossed over at the MOA.

[henry]

Yep. 327 Chevy small block will get up and go. Especially with such a light car around it.

[henry]

Mall Of America. A Minnesota thing.

[Captain Hate]

MOA == Mall Of America

[Captain Hate]

Yep. 327 Chevy small block will get up and go. Especially with such a light car around it.

Absolutely; with the fiberglass body there was still a big power/weight ratio without getting ridiculous.

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

I want an Olds 442 69/70/71 convertible, baby blue, white interior, matching numbers, original. Unfortunately, I don't have $90K lying around. :(

[Jane]

How rude of Mollinari! Harrumph!

[JM Hanes]

I want a big old Bentley. With a driver.

[Catsmeat]

Jack, I am always generous with extensions! D, no final, no way!

[Manuel Transmission]

Early Vettes: helped run a 57 drag car. Had a bud with an early Stingray with the 365 FI engine. He and another bud were always trash talking about who would win with the bud having the very 1st Z28 (67?). But by that time had another bud with a B Prod small block Cobra and no Vette in the entire SW US could touch it in any SCCA event.

[henry]

My dad had a Bentley Mulsanne. Magnificent automobile. A pleasure to drive. Had serious get up & go as well. Couldn’t really park it anywhere though.

[rich]

caps win in ot, now the nats take the lead ...

[Captain Hate]

I dated a girl in college with a navy blue 442. Nice girl; I still do stuff with her and her hubby when I go back. Her parents were neighbors with Blaze Starr; lots of late night limos.

[President-Elect Jim,SunnyvaleCA]

Im told the comments for this week's Week In Pics are excellent.

[President-Elect Jim,SunnyvaleCA]

.

[MissMarple2]

I want a 92 Ford Explorer, this time with undercoating, which my stupid ex-husband said was a rip-off, so we didn't get it.

I loved that SUV and had to trade it in for next to nothing for a used Jeep Cherokee (which my son totaled) because it was so rusted that there were HOLES in the floor!

The first Corvette I ever saw was a Stingray owned by Ronnie Burkhart who was a year ahead of me in school. Coral orange fiberglass body. Had never seen anything like it. Whenever people talk about Corvettes I think of him. Sort of his own immortality, I suppose.

[Buckeye]

I think GM owes my old F430s some form of reparations, Buckeye!! lol

Roger that Beasts.

I just looked because I wasn't sure, but Ferrari's first road going mid-engine was the Dino. It was introduced over 50 years ago!

I remember one parked in the Frisch's parking lot by my apartment in ~ 1975. Thought it was drop dead gorgeous.

Hell, I still think it is:)

[D]

Catsmeat:
Whew!
I got nervous there thinking I would have to study and then tackle a multiple choice test.
So glad we are doing this!
I think this Masters is very good!
Everyone is at the top of their game.

[MissMarple2]

I bet President Trump has the Masters on in the Oval Office, while he is going over documents.

[D]

I want a Volkswagen Cabriolet with convertible top.
I once saw a baby blue one with a cream leather interior.
I can just picture flying down the freeway with the top down and the wind in my hair..

[Jane]

I drove a Bentley in England and again in OZ. Boy was that a mistake because they both drive on the wrong side of the road! But it is a great car!!!

[D]

How much do those seats in the bleachers cost at the Masters?
Or are they just handed down in families or inherited when someone dies?

[henry]

My 93 Wrangler was the most fun vehicle I’ve owned. Added a performance chip, good exhaust, beefiest clutch I could find, then found a blower (plus 2 psi) and a shifter handle with a thumb switch. Straight 6, but it could go. Raced my buddy in the field after each harvest. His Chevy had a posi rear. Big advantage before the blower. :)

[MissMarple2]

Houston, what a tremendous response for a great cause! Come by and grab some BBQ at @therepublicbbq, stay for a FREE concert tonight at 8pm with The Resilient, sponsored by Russell Ybarra, Gringo's and Jimmy Changa's.

Still accepting donations until 9pm.@MichaelBerrySho pic.twitter.com/v3cATcKiGi

— Republic BBQ (@therepublicbbq) April 12, 2019

Video at the link. Well done, Houston!

[Jim Eagle]

3 64’s on this day at the Masters. Time to trick the course up again or order bigger wind machines.

[Jim Eagle]

So, tomorrow the screw turns. Winds and wet at Augusta. DJ for the win!

[lurkersusie]

Marching orders

neontaster
@neontaster
Decided to redo this as a thread.

Pay attention to how tight the messaging is in defense of Ilhan Omar and how precise and consistent the wording is from media, politics, academia, etc. Also I'm not searching for these. I'll just add ones that pop into my TL.

https://twitter.com/neontaster/status/1117080464320290822

[Beasts of England]

This seems like a good time to tell one of my favorite Augusta National stories. Almost every golfer dreams of playing it, but it's very difficult to make it down Magnolia Lane. A guy at our club told two of my golfing buddies that he could get them on the course the Tuesday after The Masters - when they let the caddies and grounds crew play a round.

So the three of them head that way Monday night and wake up the next morning all excited. The ring leader hasn't explained how they're going to pass as caddies or ground crew, but they really didn't care.

Around lunchtime, the local friend of the ring leader shows up to take them to the course - in a BBQ catering van!! That was the plan! So, undeterred, they load up their clubs in the van, don chefs outfits, and head to the course. I am not making this up...

They get inside the gate and park; take off their costumes and head to the first tee. And these are older guys with heavy golf bags about to trek a very hilly golf course.

They tee off without issue but one of my buddies (nicknamed Mule) had enough of toting his own bag after about six holes and commandeered a utility cart and threw his clubs in the back. Again, I am not making this up...

Unfortunately, this later catches the attention of one of the few members still on the grounds and, as they come off of 15 green, the guy approaches the group and asks for their IDs. My buddy asked how he knew they didn't belong and the member told him 'Y'all are the only group out here in nice golf clothes and a Gator for a cart.' 😂

The green coat wrote down their names and told them they were banned from the club for life for any reason - even if they had tickets to the tournament. And in a bold move, my buddy asked if they could finish the last three holes since they'd never be back. The member laughed and said they could!!

[D]

Bad shot for Molinari.

[President-Elect Jim,SunnyvaleCA]

.

[Jim Eagle]

BTW, starts on TV at 0930 hrs because of weather. I will tune in from time to time since at 1130hts Chelsea v Liverpool starts. Priorities, toy know:)

[Jane]

Great Story Beasts!

[Extraneus]

Nice bunch of hypocrites, lurkersusie.

Btw, is Warren a "harpie" yet?

The President is inciting violence against a sitting Congresswoman—and an entire group of Americans based on their religion. It's disgusting. It's shameful. And any elected leader who refuses to condemn it shares responsibility for it.

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 13, 2019

How many Muslim "leaders" have "condemned" terrorism?

[anonamom]

The new Jeeps have caught my eye.

Drove my husband's Maccaan to and from DC--it's dangerous.
90 feels like 60. Thank God for WAZ and the popo notifications.

[caro]

When I was growing up our next door neighbor owned the Chevy dealership. There was always a new Corvette in our shared driveway. Those were the days when every year the new model was exciting.

[anonamom]

Do we know why everybody is in Nike lilac today?

[Jim Eagle]

I have never seen anyone under 50 driving a vette.

[henry]

Trump:

Great playing by @TigerWoods (at the) @TheMasters. Tomorrow will be a big and exciting day for golf and for sports. Many fantastic players in the hunt. Ratings Gold - Good luck to all!

[henry]

JiB, I drove my Dad’s vet to prom one year.