“For decades, the GOP purported to be the party that was ‘tough on crime.’ Unlike their Democratic counterparts, Republican politicians said, the GOP would protect the public from villainous lawbreakers, safeguard security, and give no quarter to miscreants and menaces. It was the party that demonstrably Funded the Police. No longer. Today, on matters of critical crimefighting, they’re on the side of the scofflaws. That’s true whether such scofflaws happen to be their political idols or more run-of-the-mill white-collar crooks. See: those Republicans outraged that the nation’s top cops, the FBI, would execute a lawful warrant to search former president Donald Trump’s Florida home. … Many Republican lawmakers have also somehow forgotten that they opposed impeaching Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection because they said any Trump-related criminal allegation was a matter for the justice system to decide.” (08/11/22)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jon Miltimore
“I had to rewatch Demolition Man after the release of an Out of Frame short that explored all the ways Demolition Man predicted the future. The movie was even campier than I remembered, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t also impressed by just how much of our future Demolition Man got right. Self-driving electric cars? Check. Humans using computers to increase their self esteem? Check. Zoom meetings? Check. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s entry into politics? Check.” (08/11/22)
“Drug cartel gunmen have burned more than two dozen convenience stores and blocked roads with blazing vehicles in western Mexico in response to a military operation that was aimed at an apparent meeting of gang bosses, authorities said. Images circulated on social media showed armed men commandeering cars and buses and setting them on fire late on Tuesday. Other images showed burned-out convenience stores from the violence that erupted in several municipalities in Guanajuato and Jalisco, two of Mexico’s most violent states, according to officials. Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday that soldiers had confronted criminals, including “bosses”, at a ‘meeting of two gangs’ in Jalisco state. The president said there was a shoot-out, arrests and ‘this provoked protests of burned vehicles, not only in Jalisco, but also in Guanajuato.'” (08/11/22)
“Recent events in Ukraine and Taiwan have presented President Biden with an opportunity to showcase his statesmanship. Both situations presented Biden with a red line. Both times he crossed it. Giving Biden a red line not to cross does not seem to be a good idea. Seemingly demonstrating the psychology less of a statesman and more of a school yard bully, red lines seem to challenge Biden to show that no one can tell him what he can and cannot do.” (08/11/22)
“The January 6 committee has done a superb job of ferreting out former President Donald Trump’s various schemes for keeping himself in power after losing the 2020 election, and the American press has done an excellent job of summarizing and explaining each of the committee’s alarming discoveries. I have noticed, though, that frequently, nearing the end of an article describing one or another of Trump’s hair-raising plans to subvert the U.S. electoral process, the writer will say something to the effect that Trump is not likely to be prosecuted for any of his subversive ploys because putting an ex-president on trial would be so traumatic for the nation. … I think there is a far greater danger in not doing so. That danger is that it will have been conclusively demonstrated that the U.S. presidency is indeed a monarchy, beyond the reach of the laws to which every other American is subject.” (08/11/22)
“Florida’s Medicaid regulator has finalized new rules banning health care providers from billing the taxpayer-funded program for gender-affirming medical treatments, a move that comes as the state has sought to block such therapies for young people. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration on Thursday added new language to the rules governing the state’s $36.2 billion Medicaid program. The new rules declare that the program does not cover services for treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapies or surgical procedures as a treatment for gender dysphoria, which refers to the feelings of discomfort or distress some transgender people experience when their bodies don’t align with their gender. The updated rule will take effect on Aug. 21. The new rule is the latest step by Gov. Ron DeSantis to restrict gender-affirming treatments. Last Friday, Florida’s medical board voted to start the rulemaking process that could lead to the banning of gender-affirming medical treatment for youths.” (08/11/22)
Source: William’s Weighty Woolgatherings
by William Garrison Spooner
“What if — and perhaps the [Libertarian Party] itself could experiment with this — elections were held in such a way that not only is ‘None of the Above’ *always* an option, but it is the *default* option? Thus, a valid member (or, in the case of public elections, a registered voter) who does not — for any reason — cast a ballot is automatically counted as having cast a ballot for ‘None of the Above.’ This would encourage better candidates that drove more voter participation … but it would also ensure *actual* majorities for any winning candidate, rather than just a majority of those who bothered to participate.” (08/11/22)
“A grand jury has invoked the ‘stand your ground’ statute and will not charge a Lenoir City homeowner in the shooting death of a man who attempted to enter the home back in May, according to Ninth District Attorney General Russell Johnson. … Autopsy results indicate [Michael] Owen, 20, was hit five times by the gunshots that went through the front door of the home; Owen had marijuana in his system, as well as ‘an extremely high level of methamphetamine.’ A news release from Johnson states that leading up to the fatal shooting, Owen had just jumped through a window at 502 W. 2nd Avenue (a known drug house that was later at the center of a heroin bust by LCPD) when LCPD was called by a different neighbor to that 502 residence because of a domestic disturbance or fight.” (08/11/22)
