VP Mike Pence overcomes Republican Jeff Flake alliance with Democrats to advance nomination of Thomas Farr to NC US District Court post vacant since 2005

Trump judicial nominee clears hurdle after Pence breaks tie

The judgeship is just one of 136 current federal court vacancies. Authorized positions in 2018 are north of 860.

Senators typically veto nominees they don't like in their jurisdictions by returning a negative blue slip on the individual.

North Carolina is a playground for Supreme Court intervention in representation decisions involving race through the 1965 Voting Rights Act, making judicial appointments there radioactive. Both US Senators from North Carolina have been Republicans since 2014 when Tillis defeated Hagan. Burr was re-elected in 2016. 

If you thought Hawaii's Senator Mazie Hirono was a dingbat, its Senator Brian Schatz just proved he's fit to be her equally loopy consort

"Of course it helps that there are women on that committee. ... But really, guess who's perpetuating all of these kinds of actions? It's the men in this country. And I just want to say to the men in this country: Just shut up and step up. Do the right thing for a change."

 

"Not only do women like Dr. Ford, who bravely comes forward, need to be heard, but they need to be believed. They need to be believed," Hirono said alongside her Democratic colleagues Tuesday at a news conference on Capitol Hill.

Under my proposal Chief Justice John Roberts' appointment to the Supreme Court would have expired in 2017

Do you think Trump would have reappointed him to four more years?

Senator Chuck Grassley joins President Trump in piling on Bush's Chief Justice John Roberts over Obama's judges

The track record of presidents' judicial appointees is effulgent with political consequence, which is why liberals don't want you to think about the court that way and try to mask it with the myth of judicial independence.

Liberals impose their will by judicial fiat because they can't get their policies through the ordinary democratic way by winning elections.

Hurrah for Grassley! 

Chuck Grassley to Chief Justice John Roberts: You Rebuked Trump — but Sat Silent Through Obama’s Abuse

 

 

Already ranked tenth in the nation for drug addiction, drug wave in Michigan sweeps Democrats into power

Proposal One legalizing recreational marijuana dragged the druggies out of the woodwork yesterday, sweeping Democrats into power in Michigan in the offices of governor, attorney general and secretary of state on the coattails of nearly 2.2 million Yes voters.

In addition they propelled other liberal propositions to victory including redistricting reform and motor voter, attracting 2.3 million and 2.6 million Yes votes respectively.

These voters also rewarded the liberal Republican-endorsed Supreme Court Judge Elizabeth Clement with reelection, who controversially voted to put George Soros' Proposal Two on the ballot this summer.

Democrats were swept into office on the coattails of these ballot proposals by vote totals nearly as large as for the proposals themselves.

Kavanaugh accusers now subject to criminal referrals for making false allegations of sexual assault which Democrats insisted we believe

The Boston Herald reports here:

Democrats insist we must “believe women” regardless of the facts, evidence — or lack thereof — when the rest of us smell a rat.

On Friday one of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers, Judy Munro Leighton — a left-wing activist who opposed his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court — admitted to congressional investigators she made up the lurid back seat rape tale as “a tactic” and to get attention. She now admits she’s never even met Kavanaugh. She, along with Julie Swetnick and lawyer Michael Avenatti, are all subject to criminal referrals by the Senate Judiciary Committee on allegations of false sexual misconduct charges.

These are the despicable frauds that Democrat lawmakers insisted we believe.

Detroit News: George Soros-funded Sixteen Thirty Fund really is behind Michigan Proposition 2 just as it was behind the anti-Kavanaugh campaign

From the story here:

The Sixteen Thirty Fund is a 501(c)(4) based in Washington D.C. It recently funded Demand Justice, a social welfare organization that executed a massive campaign to oppose the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh, airing 3,200 ads against Kavanaugh and receiving $2 million from George Soros to further their efforts. Is this the kind of organization we want meddling in Michigan affairs of such lasting importance?

I'm sick of headlines from Democrats claiming to defend the republic when they're out to destroy it

Like this one from the prince of liars Andrew Sullivan, the spokesman for the freak zone of democracy, not republicanism: Can the Republic Strike Back?

They don't care about the republic. If Democrats had their way, all the bulwarks of the republic would be gone already: the electoral college, the US Senate, the Supreme Court, borders, citizen-only-voting, law and order, the presumption of innocence, and on and on. They'd replace it all with a two-headed monster of populism, a country led only by the US House and a popularly-elected president, creatures of the mob. 

The rest of the republic has to go, and its defender, Donald Trump:

Congress has real power. The press can’t get his tax returns. Congress can. The press can’t truly discover the depth of the corruption in his administration. Congress can. The press can’t publicly cross-examine Cabinet members, order functionaries to answer questions, kill proposed legislation, and air everything where it should be aired — on Capitol Hill. ...

One-party rule has strained this democracy. The Electoral College, gerrymandering, the structure of the Senate, and demographics have given us a government actively indifferent and even hostile to half the country. That single party has now taken firm control of the Supreme Court as well. It will very likely retain control of the Senate in January. Capturing the House is the only way the republic can strike back.

Investors Business Daily has a sensible editorial on birthright citizenship

Birthright Citizenship: It's About The Law, Not Mob Rule:

As Daniel Horowitz recently noted, the only legal justification for granting citizenship to illegals comes in a footnote to the Supreme Court's Plylor V. Doe decision. In it, ultra-liberal Justice William Brennan claimed that illegal aliens had a right to claim jurisdiction under U.S. law. But it's never really been decided as a separate issue by the Supreme Court.

So on strictly constructed constitutional grounds, Trump is right. Whether you hate him or not.

Of course, the counter-argument to that is: We have allowed this system to go on for so long without direct challenge it now has the force of law. That is a legitimate legal argument. It deserves serious consideration, either by Congress or the courts.

And that's our point. As bad as we think birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants is, any decision should be a matter of law and democratic process, not of screaming and name-calling. We have a Congress. We have a court system. The president has, in effect, challenged them to do their job. So they should do it.

If they don't, then Donald Trump, as the nation's chief executive, is well within his rights to issue an executive order if he thinks birthright citizenship represents a violation of the Constitution and threatens harm to the nation. It's his duty.

He has precedent. Axios.com quoted Trump telling reporters Wednesday that, if President Obama can "do DACA, we can do this by executive order."

NBC joins CNN as enemies of the people, had exculpatory information on Swetnick claims but sat on it to help Democrats defeat Kavanaugh

Once Again, NBC Sits On Story Related to Sexual Misconduct Until After It Matters:

[T]his makes three times that the network has been reluctant to run important, high-profile reports related to sexual misconduct.

Kavanaugh effect evaporates in Rasmussen generic congressional poll, Democrats take 3-point advantage

Democrat 47%

Republican 44%

Other 3%

Undecided 6%

Reported here:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone and online survey finds that 47% of Likely U.S. Voters would choose the Democratic candidate if the elections for Congress were held today. Forty-four percent (44%) would opt for the Republican. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

Piers Morgan: Trump is kicking Democrats' ass

Piers Morgan, here:

According to the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, Trump is now at 47% approval, compared to Obama’s 45% two weeks before the midterm elections in 2010. ...

And I see a President who’s growing stronger by the day.

Trump’s become a political Godzilla, crushing everyone who dares challenge him and bulldozing his way through an agenda that is beginning to pay real dividends.

In less than two years, Trump’s got two nominees onto the Supreme Court, entrenching a Conservative majority.

He’s slashed taxes, and regulations – sparking a boom in the US economy that shows no sign of stopping, a surge in jobs and record low unemployment.

Trump’s forged a peaceful dialogue with North Korea, launched a trade war with China that many think is long overdue, withdrawn from the obviously flawed Iran nuclear deal and Trans-Pacific Partnership, forced Mexico and Canada to update NAFTA, bullied NATO countries into paying their bills, and bombed ISIS out of Iraq and Syria.

He’s also clamped down hard on illegal immigration.

As I write this, a ‘caravan’ of more than 7,000 Central American migrants – most of them from Honduras - is moving towards the Southern border.

They intend trying to enter the United States illegally.

It’s hard to think of a more powerful image to vindicate Trump’s much criticized demand for a new ‘Wall’, isn’t it?

US Chamber of Commerce strategist predicts Republicans keep US House 222-213

The current US House is controlled by Republicans 236-193.

Blue wave hope ebbs as GOP rebounds:

To galvanize their voters, Republicans are airing attack ads that argue Democrats would target Trump and Kavanaugh, unleash mob rule and threaten cultural values. "Closing with a little fear," said Scott Reed, senior political strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, describing the GOP approach. Reed predicted that Republicans would keep their losses to 20 House seats, just under the 23 Democrats need to return to power. Republicans are favored to hold their majority in the Senate, which stands at 51-49. 

The WaPo typist of this article for the Democrat Party leads off with some amusing fantasies:

Underscoring the fast-changing political fortunes are the cold calculations by both parties in the final days.

 

The GOP is redirecting $1 million from a suburban district in Colorado to Florida, bailing on incumbent Rep. Mike Coffman to try to hold an open seat in Miami. Democrat Donna Shalala, a former Health and Human Services secretary in the Clinton administration, is struggling to break away from Maria Elvira Salazar, a Cuban American and former television anchor, in a district Hillary Clinton won by nearly 20 points.

Republicans have also pulled back in a Democratic-held open seat in Nevada that includes some of the suburbs of Las Vegas. Clinton won there, as well.

Democrats, meanwhile, are cutting funds in a GOP-held district in Nebraska and a Democratic-held district in northern Minnesota, two places Trump won. The latter represents one of the GOP's best chances to flip a seat from blue to red.

Start with Coffman's Republican seat in CO-6.

It was slated to go Democrat already over a month ago at Real Clear Politics when I checked on September 17th. And it had been a toss-up on September 10th. Whatever's happening with the money there, CO-6's shift toward the Democrat is not part of "fast-changing political fortunes . . . in the final days". The shift occurred much earlier.

As for Donna Shalala in FL-27 (Clinton retread!), she isn't "struggling to break away from Maria Elvira Salazar". Her support there has been ERODING, from likely Democrat in early September to leans Democrat in mid-September to toss-up in mid-October. The Republican Salazar is actually ahead there in the only poll available. The recent movement is all toward the Republican.

Same thing with the open Democrat seat in NV-3. Whatever the parties are doing with their money, the seat has been in the Democrat column for well over a month, since September 10th. But today it's a toss-up. The movement has been toward the Republican, but you would never know that from this propaganda piece.

And why mention Democrats shifting money out of Nebraska? Oooh Mable, look at that! Nebraska doesn't even have a seat on anybody's radar because there isn't one, but saying so makes it seem like there is, deep in the heart of Republican flyover country. The mission is to demoralize Republicans with this stuff, made up out of whole cloth. The Republican Bacon in NE-2 is ahead by nine points.

MN-8 is also instructive. It's not just that Republicans have there "a chance to flip a seat". The Democrat candidate there was +1 to begin September in the NYTimes poll. By mid-October the same poll has the Republican +15. Again, the direction is (massively in this instance) toward the Republican.

Of ten specific races identified in the story, I put six in the Republican column (NE-2, FL-27, MN-8, MI-6 [the Democrats' own latest poll there has Upton up by three], MN-1 and TX-23), one in the Democrat column (CO-6), and three in the toss-ups (NV-3, KY-6, PA-1).

60-40.

Looks more like a Republican wave, not an ebbing Democrat wave.

Pollsters on both sides agree: Bye Bye Blue Wave

Like it ever existed in the first place.

The Blue Wave was a joint creation of the Democrat Party and its allies in "communications", which is to say it was manufactured out of whole cloth for anyone who still happened to turn on the TV or the radio to get "the news". The number one objective? Demoralize the electorate which made Trump president. The polling operations funded by the Democrat media provided "proof". Like the cell phone towers which litter the American landscape, their websites became the online repeaters of this "information".

The point of this propaganda was to create the wave, not report on it.

Some polling operations were more honest, or stumbled into the truth.

Rasmussen has had the race tied twice, as far back as mid-August and also in early October (Christine Blasey Ford testified and Brett Kavanaugh defended himself on September 27th, flipping the poll from Dems +5 to Tied by October 4th).

Investors Business Daily had the race tied already in late July.

Rasmussen has had the race as close as Democrats +1 way back in May.

So did Reuters/Ipsos.

Just remember folks. For every 108 members of Communications faculties in America's colleges and universities, there are exactly ZERO registered Republicans among them.

Just about everyone you listen to in this country for information, from the time you're in kindergarten all the way to the retirement home, is a registered Democrat, or was "informed" by one.

Steve Liesman, here, getting out in front of the lies to burnish CNBC's credibility:

The latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey offers mixed signals, but leans against a wave Democratic election like ... those that swept Republicans to power in 2010 and 2014. ... "A six point differential is not something that's going to cause a big electoral wave," said Micah Roberts, the Republican pollster on the CNBC poll, a partner Public Opinion Strategies. "Economic confidence that people have among a lot of groups is providing a buffer" for Republicans. ... Jay Campbell, the Democratic pollster for the survey and a partner with Hart Research Associates, is skeptical of a wave for the Democrats, saying the six-point advantage is "not enough to suggest this is going to be a massive wave election a la 2010." Campbell did add that the survey found a large 17 percent of undecided voters who will be critical to the outcome.

House projection with 19 days to go: Republicans keep the House 218-217 in the worst case scenario

Real Clear Politics has the current math at Democrats 206 to Republicans 199, with 30 toss-ups, 29 of which are Republican.

To date 15 formerly Republican seats have shifted to Likely/Leans Democrat in the so-called Blue Wave, or 34% of the total 44 Republican seats at some level of risk of flipping. Defying that trend, 3 formerly Democrat seats have shifted to Likely/Leans Republican.

Were the Democrat trend to continue, which is now however unlikely in view of Democrat missteps in the Kavanaugh affair and other public relations disasters, Democrats might be expected to peel off at most 10 more of the 29. Add the Democrat toss-up seat, and Democrats finish with 217, one shy of a majority.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Until next week.

Democrats threaten with chaos and tyranny, stand for overturning all basic American political institutions and norms

Voting Republican has literally become a vote for survival and is no longer simply a policy preference:

The Electoral College is a civic abomination, Damon Linker of The Week, September 19, 2018

The Supreme Court Is a Historically Regressive and Presently Expendable Institution, Christopher Sprigman in Slate, October 11, 2018

Abolish the Senate. It's the only way to rein in modern presidents., John Bicknell for WaPo, August 30, 2016

Democrats’ ‘Fighting Words’ Take on an Ominous Tone, Carol M. Swain, The Epoch Times, October 12, 2018

Brett Kavanaugh and America's vanishing presumption of innocence, Edward Morrissey of The Week, September 19, 2018

140 House Democrats Refuse to Condemn Illegal Aliens Voting, John Binder of Breitbart, September 26, 2018 

Byron York analyzes prospects for Republicans without once observing dramatic Kavanaugh shift in Rasmussen generic poll

Byron York: After good week, GOP House campaigners aren't yet optimistic. But they are less pessimistic:

The improved GOP numbers appear to be the result of the much-discussed Kavanaugh Effect, referring to the recent confirmation of President Trump's second Supreme Court justice. But it's not just Kavanaugh. 

Ford testified Sep 27th. The Dem +5 lead vanished within a week in the biggest and best poll of likely voters out there. This was all Kavanaugh.

Rush Limbaugh still isn't leading with yesterday's generic Congressional Rasmussen poll

Somebody call the guy and tell him Dems were +5 on the day of Ford's testimony, September 27th. That lead had totally EVAPORATED by October 4th.

Wake up Rush!

You know, Obama didn't follow the so-called Biden Rule in 2016, but Mitch McConnell sure did

You can listen to Biden in 1992, here, when he said Bush should refrain from nominating anyone if a vacancy occurred on the Supreme Court in that election year.

Biden also said the Senate should refrain from holding hearings on any nominee if Bush happened to nominate anyone anyway against this advice.

Well, fellow Democrat Obama ignored the Biden Rule in 2016, an election year, by nominating Garland, which goes little remarked.

But even more little remarked is that the Republican McConnell acted in agreement with the rule in 2016, and refused to conduct hearings on Obama's nominee.

The Executive and the Legislative act as they please in these matters, as is their right. They make their own rules, no matter how much the partisans of this world may try to constrain them.

Elections have consequences.

Republican surge from Kavanaugh crucifixion in generic Congressional poll: Rasmussen goes from Dems +5 to Tie in a week