"President Trump, like President Obama in 2016, has the constitutional power to nominate a Supreme Court justice. He should exercise that power to put forward someone with a track record of respect for the law and for its limits on the judiciary. The Senate, as it did in 2016, will then have the power to decide whether to proceed. If the nominee meets threshold conditions of quality and judicial philosophy, we hope it will schedule hearings expeditiously and vote whenever enough time for deliberation has passed."

"As a thriller novelist, I expect to be terrified by the scenarios I explore. With bioweapons, terrorist attacks, and loose nukes as my daily companions, it takes a lot to get a rise out of me. But in researching my new book, 'Total Power,' I stumbled upon what I now believe to be America's greatest weakness: Our electrical grid.

"It's been called the most complex machine in the world and that's probably a fair description. Three thousand three hundred utility companies, fifty-five thousand individual substations, and two hundred thousand miles of transmission lines all coordinate to meet the country's insatiable demand for power. Unfortunately, it's this scope and complexity that makes us so vulnerable.

"And this isn't just a theoretical threat. In 2013, a meticulously planned attack was carried out on a substation near San Jose, California. It caused fifteen million dollars in damage and looked very much like a dry run for something bigger.

"None of the perpetrators were ever caught and if they are indeed plotting something more ambitious, it could be unimaginably destructive.

"According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, only nine critical substations would have to be disabled to plunge the entire country into darkness for eighteen months or more. Nine. None of which likely have much more security than the San Jose facility."

Read entire article here.

"Just three months after voting to dismantle its police department, the Minneapolis City Council complained about the city's insufficient policing at a meeting on Tuesday.

"According to the council members -- who in June unanimously passed a measure that would disband the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a 'department of community safety and violence prevention' -- Minneapolis residents are witnessing an increase in homicides, assaults, carjackings, and other violent crimes. ...

"In a step toward dismantling the city's police department, the city council voted in July to cut $1.5 million in funding from the department. Minneapolis's community policing team said the cut ended an officer recruitment program that focused on hiring more people of color.

"Violent crimes are on the rise this year in Minneapolis, according to police department data. More people have been murdered already in 2020 than all of 2019, and arsons have increased by 55 percent this year. At the same time, police officers are leaving the force at twice the normal rate this year."

Read entire article here.

"In a crisis, statesmen find a way to compromise. Can the Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress manage that?

"The 50-member bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus is offering a $1.5 trillion bill to end the latest impasse over coronavirus relief, to deliver the aid that both sides agree is needed.

"The measure, titled 'March To Common Ground,' includes: $100 billion for COVID-19 testing and health care; $316 billion in direct payments to individuals and families; $120 billion in enhanced unemployment benefits; $290 billion for small businesses, plus hundreds of billions more for schools and securing this fall's elections."

Read entire article here.

"A federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled Monday the state Democratic governor's lockdown orders are unconstitutional, violating both the First and 14th Amendments. ...

"In the 66-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania William Stickman struck down Wolf's limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings of up 25 and 250 people, respectively. The limitations, Stickman wrote, violate 'the right of assembly enshrined in the First Amendment.' ...

"In the ruling, Stickman said he 'believes that defendants undertook their actions in a well-intentioned effort to protect Pennsylvanians from the virus. However, good intentions toward a laudable end are not alone enough to uphold governmental action against a constitutional challenge. Indeed, the greatest threats to our system of constitutional liberties may arise when the ends are laudable, and the intent is good -- especially in a time of emergency.'"

Read entire article here.

"First, it was the United Arab Emirates and Israel making peace. Then it was Serbia and Kosovo agreeing to set aside political disputes to sign an economic deal. And now Bahrain and Israel are set to sign a peace treaty.

"The last month has been a remarkable one for the Biblical injunction to turn swords into plowshares. Most dramatically, the number of Arab countries recognizing Israel's right to exist has doubled, from two to four, a leap that is reshaping 75 years of Middle East politics before our eyes.

"These breakthroughs were brokered by President Trump and his administration. It is an extraordinary record of peacemaking, yet in too many circles, it is being treated as a sideshow without significance. ...

"To be sure, much of Trump's Mideast success has to do with big strategic decisions that reversed Barack Obama's approach. Trump's policy of isolating the mad mullahs of Iran instead of coddling them included withdrawing from Obama's misbegotten nuclear pact, reimposing harsh economic sanctions and taking out Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the military leader whose specialty was spreading death and mayhem.

"At the same time, Trump reduced our troop presence in hot spots and became the most supportive American president Israel has ever known. The result, Charles Lipson writes in Spectator USA, is that Trump 'has forced all Arab-Muslim states in the region to choose between placating the Mullahs and making a common front against them. The Bahrain and UAE agreements with Israel show that they are choosing to oppose -- not appease -- Iran.'"

Read entire article here.

NEVER FORGET

09.11.2001

"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said that he does not believe the president 'distorted things that I spoke to him about.'

"Fauci made the comment on Wednesday when fielding questions pertaining to journalist Bob Woodward's forthcoming book about President Donald Trump. ...

"'I didn't get any sense that he was distorting anything,' Fauci said. 'I mean in my discussions with him, they were always straightforward about the concerns that we had. We related that to him. And when he would go out, I'd hear him discussing the same sort of things. He would often say, 'We just got through with a briefing with the group from the task force,' and would talk about it. ...

"Fauci noted regarding President Trump that 'often he would want to make sure that the country doesn't get down and out about things. But I don't recall anything that was any gross distortion in things that I spoke to him about.'"

Read entire article here.

"Last week the Trump administration announced that it would make efforts to ensure Critical Race Theory is not used in diversity programs in the federal government. This came after reports emerged of 'training sessions' in which white government employees were basically told they were inherently racist and made to confess and apologize for their privilege. Such sessions have also become popular in the corporate world and in our schools; they are operated by very successful companies trading on white guilt.

"One thing that is amazing about Critical Race Theory is that it has absolutely no basis in science. There is no data anywhere to suggest that it has ever made anyone less racist, or that it has ever reduced incidents of racism. Rather it is all based on feelings, lived truth, and not so subtle calls for racial reparations, if not flat out revenge. ...

"The Trump administration is right to tackle the cancer that is Critical Race Theory head on. It has the potential to tear the nation apart, if it hasn't already. There is no more time to be silent in the face of this racist ideology. It must be stamped out of public life and we must return to the goal of a truly equal society for every American."

"The Senate is returning to Washington, D.C. with an end-of-the-month government funding deadline looming and talks over a fifth coronavirus package stalemated.

"Senators are back at the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon for the first time since early August. The House is out until next week, after extending their August recess until September 14.

"They have a matter of weeks to wrap up their work before they are expected to leave town again until after the November election, including preventing a government shutdown and trying to revive talks on another coronavirus relief package.

"Senate Republicans, after weeks of daily phone calls, are trying to finalize a smaller, second coronavirus bill that is expected to include a weekly federal unemployment payment, another round of Paycheck Protection Program funding, more money for testing and schools as well as liability protections against coronavirus-related lawsuits."