Like “Russian collusion,” (and like almost everything the Left accuses others of), it’s pure projection on the part of the Democrats.
[Update a while later]
Why the Democrats are going insane.
Like “Russian collusion,” (and like almost everything the Left accuses others of), it’s pure projection on the part of the Democrats.
[Update a while later]
Why the Democrats are going insane.
The latest analysis, at the WSJ. We should know next week if SCOTUS will be taking up the case.
[Update Tuesday afternoon]
Someone posted the whole thing in comments, but that’s a copyright violation, and not fair use. So I’ll delete that comment, but excerpt it here:
The legal issue hinges on whether what Mr. Simberg said is subjective opinion that should be decided in public debate, as NR contends, or a factual assertion that a jury could find false and defamatory, as Mr. Mann claims. By sending the case to a jury, the D.C. Court of Appeals has rewarded Mr. Mann’s attempt to use the courts to settle the science and silence the criticism. That sets a dangerous precedent.
In some senses the Mann suit may represent the perfect storm for litigation because so many consider climate science beyond question. The opinion of the appellate court, for example, carries the whiff of a religious authority rendering final judgment—the idea being that university faculties and other authorities have spoken so debate must be closed.
There’s also the venue. This lawsuit didn’t go through the federal courts but through D.C.’s equivalent of state courts, where judges and juries probably aren’t the friendliest to conservatives. With so many publications, think tanks and activists keeping offices in the nation’s capital, it isn’t hard to see how Washington could quickly become the venue for similar lawsuits.
The larger point is that while so-called climate deniers might be the first defendants, they are unlikely to be the last. If the D.C. ruling stands, National Review asks in its petition to the high court, what’s to prevent, say, Charles Koch from suing Greenpeace for accusing him of having funded a “junk study . . . loaded with lies and misrepresentations of actual climate change science”? Or Steve Bannon from founding a deep-pocketed organization to sue Trump opponents, and then shopping for a venue where a friendly jury might agree that an over-the-top opinion is a defamatory statement of fact?
“The only way to protect free speech for our allies is to protect it for our adversaries,” says Art Spitzer, legal director for the ACLU of D.C. “Today it’s unacceptable to deny climate change, but yesterday it was unacceptable to deny that homosexuality was sinful, and tomorrow it may be unacceptable to deny that robots are better parents than humans. Society can’t progress unless people are free to express and consider heretical ideas, because there’s no way to predict which heretical ideas will be tomorrow’s truths.”
The ball’s in the Supreme Court—if the justices will take it.
I should note that it’s not just as NR contends, but as CEI contends as well. We’ll find out next week.
[Update a while later]
Related: Why left-wing anti-Semitism is worse than white supremacy.
They’re entering their toxic endgame.
I try to minimize my engagement with both of them, but with an Android phone, it’s hard to avoid Google. But I’ll never download or use an app for Facebook.
[Saturday-morning update]
The useful idiots of Silicon Valley.
They’re wrecked California, and now there’s a danger that they’ll do the same thing to the rest of the country.
[Bumped]
“Guns didn’t kill my daughter; Democrat policies did.”
I would be at least as outraged as he is.
Meanwhile, exposing the ignorance, lies, and irrationality of gun “buy backs” and “assault weapons” bans.
More at HotAir. And this is a good point: “John Roberts is culpable in the Kavanaugh attacks. He showed you could rough up the ref and change the call.”
John Roberts has been a huge disappointment.
[Update a while later]
The assault on the Supreme Court. I’d like to ask, if at long last, the Left has no decency, but the answer to that is pretty clear at this point.
[Update a while later]
OK, they’re not all stupid. Senior Democrats shut down the “impeach Kavanaugh” talk.
[Mid-morning update]
Kevin Drum: The new book on Kavanaugh is a gift to conservatives. I disagree on a lot of things with Kevin, but I’ve always respected his honesty.
[Update a few more minutes later]
The real reason for the Kavanaugh smear.
It’s all about delegitimizing any of his rulings.
No, with them, it is never over. But if they want more Trump, this is how they’re going to get more Trump.
[Update a few minutes later]
More thoughts on Trump “fatigue” from VDH.
Trump’s low approval ratings don’t mean what the media hopes they mean. I continue to not approve of Trump, but if you think that’s going to make me vote for any Democrat, you’re out of your mind,
[Update a couple minutes later]
The New York Times is now admitting that its latest hit job on Kavanaugh was #FakeNews.
[Update a while later]
Jonathan Chait is afraid that his party’s candidates are either too left, or too old. He should be.
[Afternoon update]
Are the Democrats committing electoral suicide?
I sure hope so.
Don’t move there; it’s rotting from within.
Will he bring down the FBI with him? Let’s hope.
[Update a few minutes later]
Sidney Powell, on behalf of Flynn, is being very aggressive. Among other things, she is seeking “Any and all evidence that during a senior-attended FBI meeting or video conference, Andrew McCabe said, “First we fuck Flynn, then we fuck Trump,” or words to that effect.”
I like the cut of her jib.
…and Frodo Baggins.