Category Archives: morality

Justice and the Obama Administration

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Richard Fernandez, in his Belmont Club piece, cited Ross Douthat of the New York Times:

Ross Douthat, writing in ruefully writes “I simply do not believe that the Obama Justice Department is going to indict the former secretary of state and Democratic front-runner for mishandling classified information, even if the offenses involved would have sunk a lesser figure’s career or landed her in jail.” The observation is almost tantamount to arguing that the rule of law no longer exists; that the political class can literally do whatever it wants. What is worse, he argues the electorate has accepted it, a point he makes in the succeeding paragraph.

I think Douthat is right; that’s the level of integrity all of the members of President Barack Obama’s administration—every single one of them—has demonstrated these last nearly seven years. I disagree, though, with Fernandez’ characterization of the situation.

The electorate plainly hasn’t accepted it, or at least that part of the electorate farther right than an Elizabeth Warren. That’s why Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers keep falling on questions of integrity, does she lie, did she mishandle classified information, even whether she’s qualified to be President.

Also, absent a preemptive pardon by Obama—which I wouldn’t put past him—the statute of limitations on the crimes Clinton (may have) committed won’t run out before the next President, and a new set of leaders for the DoJ, get installed. At that point, the charges can, and likely will be, filed and the trials held.

The cynic in me suggests an alternate scenario: the Obama DoJ might, at a suitable time, file a trivial charge and hold a show trial in an attempt to protect Clinton from serious charges from actual wrong-doing. The show trial wouldn’t protect her in any legal sense, but it could well provide enough of a distraction to achieve protection. And it might not. There are more bulldogs like Congressman Trey Gowdy (R, SC) than there are lapdogs like Eric Holder or Loretta Lynch or James Cole or Sally Yates or John Carlin.

Obama, Iran, and Justice

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Over two decades U.S. federal courts have found the Iranian government liable for orchestrating or supporting the 1983 bombings of the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers U.S. Air Force facility in Saudi Arabia, and multiple shootings and suicide bombings in Israel, among other attacks. Judges have awarded some $45 billion in damages to hundreds of plaintiffs such as Embassy bombing survivor Anne Dammarell and the widow and orphaned children of Hamas bombing victim Ira Weinstein.

Naturally, the men governing Iran think these murdered victims of Iranian terrorism are legitimate targets and the terrorism entirely jake, and these men have refused to pay a penny of the judgment.

President Barack Obama and his henchman, John Kerry, don’t care, either. The money from which those judgments would have been paid was $100 billion to $150 billion prior administrations had seized from Iranian (largely oil sales) accounts. But that’s the same money Obama and his have promised Iran in return for their “promise” to stop developing a nuclear weapons capability. For a while.

So much for what the Progressive movement in the Executive Branch thinks of justice.

Jeb Bush Misunderstands

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In a post-debate interview on CNN, Presidential candidate Donald Trump (Businessman) had this to say about the allegedly tough questioning regarding his remarks about women that he had to face from one of the debate moderators, Megyn Kelly:

She gets out, and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. You know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her [pause] wherever.

Among the responses to this…statement…was this from Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush (R):

Do we want to insult 53% of all voters? What Mr Trump said is wrong. That is not how we win elections. And worse yet, that is not how you bring people together to solve problems.

Yes, Mr Bush, what Trump said was wrong—insultingly, imbecilically wrong. Full stop.

Full stop. Trump’s slur was intrinsically wrong, it wasn’t wrong because it’s bad political tactics.

A Proper Rejection

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The New Hampshire Executive Council has refused to allow the expenditure of $640 thousand on the State’s Planned Parenthood facilities. Councilor David Wheeler (R) said,

You can’t divorce what’s going on nationally from Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and we need a real investigation[.]

If the State legislature intends to do the right thing, it will follow the Executive Council’s example and reallocate those $640k to other women’s health centers. If the legislature chooses not to, it’ll be supporting the arrogance of Jennifer Frizzell, Vice President for Public Policy at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England:

Today’s decision will have a direct impact on New Hampshire women and their families,” Frizzell said in a statement. “Without these funds, PPNNE will be forced to cut direct program costs, which could mean shortening health center hours, eliminating staff positions, and reducing patient access to affordable care.

Because Planned Parenthood is the only women’s health facility in all of New Hampshire. The Concord Feminist Health Center, Joan G Lovering Health Center, Weeks Medical Center, who are getting roughly $360 thousand out of the cool million that the State had appropriated, and other facilities don’t exist.

Bluster?

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Or moral equivalence sewage? Of course, the two aren’t mutually exclusive….

…Secretary of State John Kerry called Thursday for all claimants to disputed territories in the South China to Sea immediately halt provocative activities that have ratcheted up tensions in some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. He also said the United States would not accept restrictions on navigation or overflights of the disputed territories

In remarks to East Asian officials in Malaysia, Kerry proposed a joint commitment from all involved….

Because the nations defending themselves and their territories from PRC aggression are being every bit as provocative as the PRC.

Too, what action does Kerry propose if the PRC doesn’t go along with this?

Anybody? Bueller?