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ITEM #1: Governor Sisolak's politicized and hypocritical response to the COVID-19 outbreak reached a new level this week, as the Governor ripped into President Trump for holding a pair of campaign rallies here in Nevada.
This is the same Governor who sat on his hands and said nothing critical of the violent riots that broke out across the state, and who has allowed politically favored establishments to stay open and certain construction projects to carry on, while at the same cracking down on other activities, such as attending church. His selectively heavy-handed approach even resulted in Las Vegas losing the National Finals Rodeo to Texas this year.
"Tonight, President Donald Trump is taking reckless and selfish actions that are putting countless lives in danger here in Nevada. The president appears to have forgotten that this country is still in the middle of a global pandemic," Sisolak said of one of the President's rallies.
The hypocrisy is stunning. Apparently, Sisolak himself had "forgotten that this country is still in the middle of a global pandemic" when he decided to take in some dinner and live entertainment recently — the exact kind of activity his mandates forbid.
The Governor also remained silent when Democrat Senator Jacky Rosen attended a Black Lives Matter rally with thousands of people present. The Senator made no attempt to hide her participation, and even bragged about it on Twitter.
No doubt speaking for many, many Nevadans, Richard Grenell tweeted a telling video and asked the Governor: “Dear, @GovSisolak, the Strip is filled with thousands of people with no masks. Right now. So why are you attacking only the Trump voters?”
Of course, we want the Strip to be open — but we want ALL of Nevada to be open. Morning in Nevada PAC President Adam Laxalt summed up the Governor’s inconsistency, tweeting:
“Thousands of people in Grocery stores throughout, thousands of people protesting for weeks on end, thousands on construction sites, thousands in Governor determined ‘essential businesses’ but no political speech for a GOP President and 50 people in church — hypocrisy abounds.”
And sadly, it appears to have no end in sight.
ITEM #2: President Trump has declared that "action must be taken" against former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigative team members, after bombshell documents showed they wiped clean dozens of government phones used during the Russia investigation.
In an interview with Fox Business, former independent counsel Ken Starr weighed in on this new development, and he didn't hold back in addressing its significance:
"This is a very serious revelation — extraordinarily serious. ... This is essentially the electronic equivalent of shredding documents. ... It looks very unlikely that there's going to be an innocent explanation.
"It just cries out for investigation. ... Let's put these individuals under oath."
Starr also discussed former FBI agent Peter Strzok, who was discovered engaging in anti-Trump text-message conversations with FBI lawyer Lisa Page, and whose phone, like Page’s, was also wiped clean.
Strzok has been going on TV to bemoan the fact that his anti-Trump text messages (sent using a government phone, by the way), are now being "weaponized," as he puts it, to attack the FBI and Mueller.
Here’s Starr:
"This idea of 'weaponizing' — they speak for themselves. Peter Strzok appears to have taken action designed to thwart the Trump presidency. And this is so appalling, that the FBI would allow itself, under the direction of Jim Comey, to be used for political purposes. ... Peter Strzok really does have an enormous amount of blood on his hands in bringing disrepute to the FBI.”
And as for Strzok's attempt to cast criticism of him as an attack on the FBI as an institution, Starr was having none of it:
"He's hiding behind the great men and women of the FBI, who are persons of fidelity and integrity and bravery. ... Peter Strzok was part of this terrible cabal that really has terribly injured the reputation of the FBI. ... He stands alone as a rogue person who came to power, but he used his power for political reasons. And that's the unforgivable sin for an FBI agent."
You can watch Starr’s interview here.
As the shoes continue to drop in this unfolding scandal, friends, we’ll continue to bring you the latest.
ITEM #3: Chuck DeVore of the Texas Public Policy Foundation has penned a must-read piece for the Federalist, featuring an incisive examination of "the history of California’s energy mismanagement" and how the left's pattern of "unnecessarily pitting energy against the environment" led to the blackouts and wildfires the Golden State is experiencing today.
DeVore writes:
“Politicians like Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom blame global warming and President Donald Trump for California’s woes. Yet Newsom has cautiously moved to mitigate some of his state’s past policy missteps by increasing efforts to clear forests of fuel and allowing some natural gas power plants to remain open for a few more years to reduce the threat of blackouts caused by an overreliance on unreliable wind and solar power.
“Giving policymakers the benefit of the doubt — that they didn’t intend to promote policies that resulted in burned towns, scores of deaths, and widespread power outages — how did they arrive at this point?”
What follows is a thorough, detailed answer, including a timeline of the many steps California’s policymakers have taken over the decades to land the state and its residents in today’s mess.
A few of the “highlights” …
“1994: Due to concerns over the Northern Spotted Owl population, whose habitat ranges from Northern California to Washington, a federal judge rules that President Clinton’s Northwest Forest Plan will stand, dealing a blow to the Western timber industry, from which it never recovers. Forests begin accumulating more fuel than is harvested or burned.
“2002: California adopts its Renewable Portfolio Standard Program, requiring the state to increase its use of renewable generation for electricity to 20 percent by 2017.
“2008: [Governor Arnold] Schwarzenegger signs Executive Order S-14-08, increasing California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard to 33 percent by 2020 and further accelerating the renewable goal from 20 percent by 2017 to 20 percent by 2010.
“2015: SB 350, by state Sen. Kevin de León, the leader of the California Senate, passes. The law further increases California’s renewable electricity procurement goal from 33 percent by 2020 to 50 percent by 2030.
“2018: California again increases its renewable electricity goals with SB 100, hiking them to 60 percent by 2030 and 100 percent zero-carbon by 2045.
“2018: In November, the powerline-sparked Camp Fire becomes California’s deadliest wildfire, killing 85 people. Politicians widely blame climate change and PG&E for the conflagration. But years of not harvesting and cleaning the forests have led to a dangerous fuel build-up while PG&E, ordered to heavily invest in renewables by politicians and regulators, had little money for powerline safety upgrades.
“2020: California experiences rolling blackouts due to insufficient electricity supplies for the first time since 2001.”
You can read the entire piece here.
ITEM #4: That the mainstream “news” media would put a finger on the scale for a Democrat candidate is hardly an earth-shattering revelation. But Ramesh Ponnuru, writing at Bloomberg, takes a look at how reporters are taking the practice to new heights — or depths — in the case of Joe Biden.
Ponnuru has authored a piece on how the press has been consistently “cleaning up” after Biden when he gets himself into rhetorical messes, regularly framing his missteps in a way that either excuses away his statements or recasts them in a more politically advantageous light.
For instance:
"In a March 15 debate with Senator Bernie Sanders, Biden sounded favorable toward banning fracking, a stand that could cost him votes in crucial states such as Pennsylvania. When President Donald Trump raised the issue, Ellen Knickmeyer and Calvin Woodward of the Associated Press reported that Trump was distorting Biden’s views. They explained that Biden had 'misstated his fracking policy' in that debate but 'otherwise been consistent on his middle-of-the-road position.'
"He has? During a debate in July 2019, Dana Bash of CNN asked him 'to clarify, would there be any place for fossil fuels, including coal and fracking, in a Biden administration?' He responded: 'No, we would — we would work it out. We would make sure it's eliminated.' At a campaign stop two months later, he told an environmental activist: 'I want you to look at my eyes. I guarantee you. I guarantee you. We're going to end fossil fuel.' The activist, Rebecca Beaulieu, told me in an email that she took Biden’s answer to include all fracking.
"It’s true that he has also sometimes poured cold water on the idea of a ban. Just days before talking to Beaulieu, he said a national ban could not pass Congress. Having won the nomination, he is more emphatic. This August, he said, 'I am not banning fracking no matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me.' (He said that, not coincidentally, in Pittsburgh.)
"Reviewing this record, Amber Phillips reported in the Washington Post that Trump has twisted Biden’s words, even while conceding that Biden has been 'more straightforward' about opposing a ban since winning the Democratic nomination. The truth is that Biden has been inconsistent on this question, and Trump is within his rights to take political advantage of the fact."
It's just one of several examples Ponnuru provides in the full piece, available here.
ITEM #5: NBA star Lebron James has established himself as one of the sports world’s more outspoken advocates on social issues. Noticeably, his chosen causes consistently fall on the left side of the political spectrum, and he has been particularly vocal in his condemnation of the police.
James says it’s all part of his commitment to justice.
Now, one member of law enforcement has decided to give James a chance to prove that justice truly is the cause he’s serving — and that he’s not just claiming that mantle to further a partisan political agenda.
Via Fox News:
“Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva on Monday challenged NBA star LeBron James to match and double the reward money being offered for information on the gunman who ambushed and shot two deputies over the weekend.
“Speaking with KABC Radio on the John Phillips Show, Villanueva said the reward money reached $175,000 — a combination of donations of $100,000 from the county and $75,000 from two private individuals.
"'This challenge is to Lebron James. I want you to match that and double that reward,' Villanueva said. 'I know you care about law enforcement. You expressed a very interesting statement about your perspective on race relations and on officer-involved shootings and the impact that it has on the African-American community.'
"'And I appreciated that,' he continued. 'But likewise, we need to appreciate that respect for life goes across all professions.'"
As Morning in Nevada PAC President Adam Laxalt noted on Twitter, James isn’t the only one who needs to step up. Laxalt called on Democrat Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris to do the same, in a tweet that has garnered 300,000 views — a pretty good indication of how people feel about her pro-criminal stance.
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