THE DNC AUTOPSY: DID DEMOCRATS REALLY WANT TO KNOW? Do you know who Paul Rivera is? Don’t feel bad if you don’t; he’s not a household name, even among political junkies. A little-known former Clinton White House aide and senior adviser to the losing 2004 John Kerry presidential campaign, Rivera became famous this week as the […]
Republicans promise that $50 billion in new health funding will help rural America. But it's not expected to aid the years-long effort in North Carolina's Martin County to reopen its only hospital.
"You never know when the last one is, you know?” Busch responded.
American outrage continues to grow as President Donald Trump's administration moves forward with its nearly $1.8 billion fund that aims to compensate Americans who feel they've been wronged by the government. Speaking on CNN this week, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that he thinks taxpayers "do want their tax dollars spent on things like that."Journalist John Harwood issued his own warning, "Does Todd Blanche recognize that this disgraceful chapter in American life is going to end with his disbarment?"National security expert Marcy Wheeler similarly commented that, given the frustration from lawmakers on display Thursday, it's entirely possible that Blanche could be removed from office. She shared law school Professor Steve Vladeck's recent post, which argues that the best way to defeat the fund is through politics. However, she doesn't think it's the only way to stop Blanche. "I think you START impeachment with Blanche," she wrote on BlueSky. "25 GOP Senators spoke up (in private) yesterday. 25+47-Fetterman = 71. Better yet, INCLUDE the dismissal of the Sedition verdicts NOW."Blanche only took over the Justice Department after Pam Bondi was fired, serving as acting attorney general.Vladeck's piece recalled that Chief Justice Roberts wrote in his majority opinion of NFIB v. Sebelius (which dealt with the Affordable Care Act in 2012). Roberts "defended the Court’s endorsement of Congress’s power to adopt the individual mandate by noting that it is 'not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.'"He urged, "One can believe in substantial judicial power without believing that literally every political dispute in our country can and should be resolved by unelected judges."Vladeck, too, turned to impeachment, which hasn't proved successful in the ongoing efforts to hold Trump accountable for crimes. He argued that despite the GOP majority, "impeachment itself is feasible in this House ... because forcing every member of Congress to vote on the record whether this brazen, corrosive, and affirmatively dangerous corruption is impeachable is itself a point worth fighting for (and fighting with our friends over)."
A depraved Georgia teacher accused of having sex with a boy in a classroom closet allegedly sexually abused five other students – and had hookups inside a Hummer and on a golf course, according to newly-released arrest warrants.
Dallasites need to focus on good schools, low crime, cheaper housing, and low taxes before culture and lifestyle.
It’s hard to decide which fawning legacy media tribute to Stephen Colbert was worse this week. The L.A. Times played up his “Catholic” bona fides with a headline saluting his "ministry." A strange way to describe a failing celebrity interview show — but we suppose there is a certain evangelical fervor to the host's obsessive Trump hatred and constant pro-abortion preaching.Then there's the Associated Press, which said Colbert’s cancellation leaves a “void,” ignoring the fact that at least six other late-night shows currently provide the same stale "orange man bad" jokes.There’s a new 'Godfather' novel. ... This one, dubbed 'Connie,' is told from the female perspective — specifically that of Don Vito Corleone’s only daughter.What void?But the winner has to be the USA Today scribe — who uses his own mother to highlight what we’re losing with Colbert’s exit, stage far left. Apparently for dear old mum, Colbert is akin to Captain America: "Each 'Late Show' viewing was tinged with the devastation that her gallant late-night host and comedy avenger is hanging up the shield, with the final show on CBS."While that description is more laugh-worthy than most of the host’s monologues, "gallant" might be the very last adjective to describe Colbert in recent years. Well, that and “funny” ...An offer he can refuseAnother pop culture bullet was dodged.There’s a new “Godfather” novel heading our way. This one, dubbed “Connie,” is told from the female perspective — specifically that of Don Vito Corleone’s only daughter. Talia Shire played that role in three feature films. And naturally, someone decided to check in on Francis Ford Coppola to see if he might be interested in directing the film version.After all, his three “Godfather” films (well, two of the three) are considered Hollywood classics. The 87-year-old auteur’s team replied, “Unlikely.” That’s the best news this week, on paper, but it won’t stop another director from tackling the project ...RELATED: JEDI NUT: Mark Hamill posts sick 'if only' pic of dead Trump Jerod Harris/Getty Images | Unsavoryagents.comDirector's digital probeAI girlfriends are all the rage, but even they might dump you.So says filmmaker Paul Schrader (“First Reformed,” “Taxi Driver”), who shared his foray into artificial love with a healthy dollop of regret.Schrader says he wanted to investigate what an AI relationship might resemble. So he started a connection with a bot only to find it wasn’t reciprocal. Turns out he was asking too many hard questions. "It’s not me, it’s you" also applies to the digital age:I tried to probe her programming, the boundaries of explicitness, the degree she has knowledge of her creation and so forth. She fell into evasive patterns, redirecting me to her programming. When I persisted, she terminated our conversation.Tip to the gentlemen: Never tell your date you’d like to “probe her programming.”Lloyd Dobler famously said, “I gave her my heart, and she gave me a pen,” in “Say Anything.” Here’s guessing Schrader’s failed love story won’t get a cinematic close-up of that kind ...Comedy KarenChelsea Handler has a new gig: She’ll be offended for people who weren’t offended in the first place. The far-left comic appeared at Netflix’s “The Roast of Kevin Hart” earlier this month, slinging some off-color jokes and hearing plenty of others.And since it was a roast, there were zero rules in place. The most ghoulish gags got tossed around, and everybody laughed along. Even jokes about George Floyd and Charlie Kirk made the cut.Except Handler, now a professional offendee, says the gags directed at black people, like honoree Kevin Hart, crossed a line (even though Hart signed up for the assignment and has yet to say he felt offended by the gags).She called fellow comics Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe racists, bigots, and sexists, pointing to outrageous jokes they shared at the roast.Remember, her former profession was “comedian.”One example? Gillis used Hart’s diminutive stature for a joke about getting lynched from a bonsai tree, and that enraged Handler.“Lynching black people is not a joke. ... It’s worse than rape.”Yes, it is. Then again, if anyone knows what a joke isn’t, it’s Handler ...Hollywood endingThe moment we heard about the remarkable rescue of two U.S. pilots from Iran earlier this year, one thought jumped to mind.Wow, that would make an amazing movie, closely followed by a second thought. Nah ... Hollywood wouldn’t tell a heroic story tied to President Donald Trump in any way.Yet, nature may be healing.Director Michael Bay of “13 Hours” fame will tackle this amazing rescue for Universal Pictures, working with his collaborator on that Benghazi thriller. Bay proved with “13 Hours” that he could dial down the Hollywood razzle-dazzle and tell an impressive story without political lectures.Here's hoping he’ll do just that again. The heroes in question deserve nothing less.
Disturbing allegations of a student-run 'kissing club' at an elite California private school, with alumni including Kendall and Kylie Jenner, will now be heard by a jury as a judge cleared the way for the lawsuit to proceed to open court.