Supreme Court Goes Three for Three
Court Strikes Down Racism
In a case brought against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina by Students for Fair Admissions, the US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that using different admission standards for different races is unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote "Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantee of the 14th Amendment that all persons are entitled to equal protection under the law. Granting special privileges to some based solely on skin color is illegal."
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, writing that "given the history of discrimination against blacks a counterbalancing period of discrimination in favor of blacks is essential to achieving social justice. Though the individual whites and Asians who are disadvantaged by affirmative action's discrimination against them may have played no direct role in the mistreatment of blacks they must, nevertheless, pay the price."
Asians, many of whom were denied basic rights in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States, must score 1350 or more (top 10%) on their Student Scholastic Aptitude (SAT) to be considered for admission to Harvard. Blacks need only score 1100 (top 42%). Asian applicant Calvin Yang had a 1550 (top 1%) SAT score, a grade point average 4.0, and lettered in two varsity sports, but was rejected for admission.
President Biden denounced the Court's decision and labeled the current Court "not normal. For decades the Court has upheld racial discrimination in admissions as a necessary remedy for the hardships faced by blacks in attaining the status conferred by getting a degree from a prestigious university."
MSNBC host Al Sharpton called this Court ruling "a dagger in our backs. Blacks were enslaved for 246 years and discriminated against by Jim Crow laws for 100 years after being freed during the Civil War. Justice requires that this be offset by at least 100 years of discrimination in our favor. Affirmative action in college admissions is just one small down payment on what's owed us."
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) disagreed with both Biden and Sharpton, saying "the elimination of racial discrimination anywhere is a good thing. Slavery was overthrown by good people. Jim Crow was outlawed by good people. One of the remaining major hardships that impedes the opportunities of poor people of all races is the rotten education they receive in too many public schools. Expanding school vouchers will enable these victims to escape being trapped in the under-performing public schools and upgrade their education in private schools that will better prepare them to succeed at universities based on merit without regard to their skin color."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) slammed both the Court and Sen. Scott as "naive. If it hadn't been for affirmative action, a poor young woman of Indian heritage like myself would never have experienced the success I was able to achieve as the first woman of color to attend Harvard Law School. I won't stop fighting for young people with big dreams who deserve an equal chance to pursue their future."
Court Strikes Down President's Debt Forgiveness
The US Supreme Court ruled against President Biden's attempt to forgive $400 billion in student loan debt. Justice Roberts pointed out that "the Constitution does not grant the executive branch the authority to cancel this debt. Only Congress possesses such authority."
Biden called the Court's decision "wrong and hypocritical. We gave businesses $400 billion in pandemic relief payments. Why can't we give kids $400 billion in debt relief? I will stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver this relief."
Former Vice President and current Republican presidential candidate Mike Pence praised the Court and assailed "Biden's massive trillion-dollar student loan bailout" because "it subsidizes the education of elites on the backs of hardworking Americans. With $200 billion of the pandemic relief money having been stolen it cannot serve as a justification for his illegal unilateral raid on the US taxpayers' money."
Court Upholds Freedom of Speech
In another 6-3 ruling, the US Supreme Court overturned a Colorado law that punished Lorie Smith for refusing to design a website promoting same-sex marriages. Justice Neil Gorsuch explained that "the First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place, where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands."
In a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice Sonia Sotomayor complained that "today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class."
Gorsuch challenged the notion that "there should be 'protected classes' who have special rights to coerce others to do their bidding. Ms. Smith is not the only web designer offering these services in Colorado. She has the constitutional right to decline business that conflicts with her own religious beliefs. Those seeking assistance in designing a pro-same sex marriage website have numerous other vendors from which to acquire this assistance. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission does not have a legitimate authority to compel Ms. Smith to provide this assistance."
Hunter Biden's Plea Deal
As more and more evidence emerges revealing the depth and breadth of the Biden family's corruption, a "fed up" President Joe Biden has warned his top aides to refrain from advising him to create some political distance between Hunter and himself. "Why should I," Biden demands to know. "He hasn't done anything wrong. As his father I have the obligation to protect him. As the president I have an unlimited power to pardon him for any alleged crime he is accused of."
The contradiction between Attorney General Merrick Garland's assertion under oath that US Attorney David Weiss "had a completely free hand in how to conduct his investigation of Hunter" and Weiss' statement that "I'm not the deciding official on whether charges are filed," is fueling demands that the plea bargain intended to close the investigation without any serious consequences for Hunter be rejected.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis) said "I don't understand how any judge could bless this plea agreement now that all of this evidence of obstruction and DOJ and FBI wrongdoing has surfaced. Our whistle blower--IRS agent Gary Shapley--has six witnesses confirming Weiss' 'not the deciding official' statement. It would appear that Garland lied under oath and may have obstructed the investigation into Hunter Biden. As the nation's purported highest law-enforcement officer such conduct is as embarrassing as it is illegal."
EV Fiasco
It looks like the efforts of both state and federal governments' to force electric vehicles (EVs) on consumers will be costly without providing any environmental advantages. Everyone knows that EVs are far more expensive to own than gasoline-powered vehicles. The premise that these higher costs will buy a cleaner and cooler environment is erroneous.
In an effort to make EVs seem more economical, the federal government offers a $7500 tax credit to those who buy one. Even with this added incentive for purchasers, manufacturers are still taking big losses on every vehicle sold. Ford, for example, currently losses $58,000 on every EV it sells. Since EVs weigh up to a ton more than the gasoline-fueled cars they replace, crashes become more deadly, tires wear out faster, pavements experience twice as much damage, and bridges reach the breaking point earlier.
The dismal impacts of EVs has not daunted President Biden's enthusiasm for these clunkers one bit. He has decreed that by 2030 one-half of all new vehicles sold in the US must be EVs. "I know it's expensive, but no price is too high to pay for saving the planet from climate change," he insisted. "We won't know for sure whether even this sacrifice will be sufficient to achieve our climate goals, but it is nobler to try and fail than to not have tried at all."
Former president and currently leading Republican candidate for president in the 2024 election Donald Trump observed that "noble failures is what 'Bidenomics' offers the American people. We can't afford to waste more scarce resources on impractical schemes. Gasoline-fueled cars are far less polluting than they were 50 years ago. Private industry has made great strides by increasing the fuel efficiency and lowering the emissions of the vehicles. Rather than have the government waste the people's money on unpromising options why not leave the market free to continue making things already shown to work even better? That's the sound approach I will bring back when I'm reelected."
Sweden Abandons Green Energy
The Swedish Parliament announced that it is abandoning its green energy targets. Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson explained that "wind and solar power are too unstable to meet the nation's energy requirements. Only a nuclear pathway is viable to remain industrialized and competitive. The goal of a 100% renewable energy supply is infeasible and must be scrapped."
Biden's climate envoy John Kerry called this decision "disappointing. By breaking away from a uniform acceptance of the necessary reduced standard of living, Sweden risks reigniting a global quest for prosperity that constitutes the chief threat to our climate goals. This is their second major dissent from the consensus forged by the World Economic Forum in the last three years. As you may recall, when everyone else was locking down to fight the pandemic, Sweden was selfishly charting its own laissez faire approach. The failure to punish them for their deviations then was a grave error."
"I will be recommending President Biden supply arms to a contingent of NATO troops that would occupy Sweden and ensure that they conform to the renewable energy strategy that has to be imposed on countries that refuse to voluntarily do as we ask," Kerry said. "It could be a nuclear pathway alright, just not the kind that fuels the generation of electricity."
In related news, the Scottsbluff, Nebraska multi-million dollar Community Solar project was smashed into a pile of toxic rubble by a hail storm. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said "while the destruction of this beautiful array of solar energy panels is tragic, there is a silver lining. President Biden assured me that he will appropriate the funds needed for its reconstruction. So, not only will there be jobs to clear away the toxic waste, but new jobs to rebuild. This is how Bidenomics is revitalizing the American economy."
HHS Mandates Transgender Surgeries
Though two circuit courts have ruled that Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations compelling states to fund genital mutilation surgeries by health care providers are illegal, Secretary Xavier Becerra warned that he will withhold Medicaid funds from states that refuse to fund these surgeries.
"President Biden has made it clear that he wants every transgender to have access to this life-saving therapy," Becerra said. "His will trumps objections to using public funds to perform what some are calling 'elective surgery.' I say if you're a female born with a penis instead of a vagina you need surgery to correct that mistake. And if you need it, the government has an obligation to provide it."
The contention that this type of surgery is "life-saving" is contradicted by a recently published Journal of the American Medical Association study showing that transgender people's attempted suicide rate is 770% higher than for non-transgender people and that transgenders have a 600% higher rate of mental illness.
Opponent of tax-funded transgender surgeries Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan) said, "this study indicates that these surgeries are not life-affirming. They are life-endangering. The first rule for physicians is 'do no harm.' Mutilating the body violates this rule. There is no valid grounds for compelling taxpayers to fund these dubious procedures."
Becerra questioned the Senator's interpretation and argued that "in my opinion, the higher suicide and mental illness among transgenders is the fault of others who won't accord transgenders the respect they are due for their heroic effort to escape imprisonment in the wrong body."
Teens Terrorize Neighborhoods
As warmer weather has come to Chicago, groups of hundreds of teens have been rampaging through various neighborhoods vandalizing property, stealing from businesses, and assaulting people on the streets. This week it was Lakeview's turn. One woman who called police was told the police couldn't help. Video from a local TV station showed teens jumping on cars and raiding businesses while Chicago Police officers stood by watching. While hundreds of crimes were committed, the police made only two arrests.
44th Ward Alderman Bennett Lawson blamed the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) for "not doing enough to keep the teens from using the CTA as a means of transportation for their violent, destructive gatherings."
A spokesman for CTA rejected blame and pointed the finger at the Chicago Police Department (CPD), saying "there just aren't enough cops to enforce even a minimum level of safety on the trains. Maybe if more neighborhoods get a taste of what's happening on a daily basis on the trains it will spur the CPD into a more aggressive effort to control crime."
A spokesman for the CPD blamed the Mayor.
Mayor Brandon Johnson scolded residents and the media for "demonizing these youths. These incidents are unfortunate, but more arrests are not the answer. These young people are legitimately aggrieved by this country's legacy of slavery. If we could give each of them a few million dollars in reparations maybe we could convert them into law-abiding citizens."
Meanwhile, Michigan's House of Representatives passed a hate speech bill (HB 4474) that criminalizes causing someone to feel threatened by words. Rep. Noah Arbit (D-district 20) asserted that "words can do more damage than sticks and stones. We want everyone to consider whether the things they might say to another person, especially persons in the protected class of LGBTQ, that could hurt that person's feelings. To help provide a meaningful incentive, our bill prescribes punishment of a fine up to $10,000 and up to five years in prison."
