Sacking* the Senator

It is easy to write off the Washington Post as irretrievably biased, and yet, sometimes they do something quite even-handed. We have at hand an example of the latter sort, concerning the (bad) neighborly atttack on Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).

The author seems to have made a good faith effort to understand what moved the neighbor to blind-side Paul, knocking him to the ground and breaking 6 ribs. The two physician neighbors had marginally different standards of yard maintenance, though nobody seems to believe these reached anywhere near the level of fisticuffs. Their politics were quite different, but probably not the issue.

Paul is a prickly iconoclast and, as such, easy to dislike as he willfully goes his own way on many issues before the Senate. It is easy to imagine having a committed libertarian as a neighbor might be challenging.

On the other hand, the much less well-known neighbor who attacked him is shown to have been in a slow-motion spiral of emotional deterioration as his life fell apart bit by bit. Neighbor Rene Boucher’s life gradually became less and less the tidy affair his OCD-like proclivities would have preferred. A long-time marriage gone south, grown children moved out of state, hassles with other neighbors, and attempts to sell his home falling through with potential home buyers sued.

Reading between the lines you see the picture of a control freak losing control gradually until he snapped. Not wishing to be sued, author Justin Jouvenal allows us to draw that conclusion from likely accurate data points he’s unearthed.

*Used here in the football sense.

Weird Psychological Science

Scientific American reports a survey of Mensa members (limited to those who score high on IQ tests) asking about their physical and mental health. The original research was reported in the scientific journal Intelligence. The key finding:

The biggest differences between the Mensa group and the general population were seen for mood disorders and anxiety disorders. More than a quarter (26.7%) of the sample reported that they had been formally diagnosed with a mood disorder, while 20% reported an anxiety disorder—far higher than the national averages of around 10% for each. The differences were smaller, but still statistically significant and practically meaningful, for most of the other disorders. The prevalence of environmental allergies was triple the national average (33% vs. 11%).

However, SA drops the other shoe, and more power to them for doing so.

It’s also possible that people who join Mensa differ from other people in ways other than just IQ. For example, people preoccupied with intellectual pursuits may spend less time than the average person on physical exercise and social interaction, both of which have been shown to have broad benefits for psychological and physical health.

Or my favorite explanation of the findings: it's screwed up bright people who join Mensa. Healthy smarties are too busy living and loving to hang with a Big, Bang Theory crowd of the psychological walking wounded. Instead of "Superior IQs associated with mental and physical disorders" the subtitle should be "Mensa membership associated with mental and physical disorders."

Weird Agricultural Science

Popular Mechanics asks the question, "Is it okay to pee on your lawn?" The answer is simplicity itself, diluted with two parts water to one part pee, it is an excellent fertilizer. Here's the money quote:

There is certainly no need for a suburban family to ever buy any fertilizer. Diluted urine grows wonderful vegetables.

Fail to dilute, however, and you'll burn the grass or whatever. Uncut pee is too strong, too salty. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.

A Snowflake Response to Labeling

The Daily Mail (U.K.) reports the results of a study done by the British insurance firm Aviva, which surveyed in excess of 2000 young Brits in the 16-24 age group about being labeled "snowflakes."

Almost three quarters of 16-24 year olds surveyed believe the moniker is unfair and are adamant it could negatively affect their mental health.

Okay, I'm prepared to believe it could be unfair, until I read further and see that they believe being called that name "could negatively affect their mental health." They just proved the accuracy of the label out of their own mouths.

Believing being called a disparaging name can negatively affect ones mental health is the absolute essence of being a snowflake. It's saying I may be too fragile to survive in the occasionally abrasive world.

Oh, boo-hoo! Honestly, I despair of our species' future. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.

Later ... it is being reported that William Shatner, of Star Trek fame, has suggested an alternate name for these sensitive youngsters: "delicate flowers." Tell me children, do you prefer the label "delicate flowers?" How about "sensitive souls" or "fragile spirits"?

Symbolism

It is widely reported that President Trump will soon move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the city Israel says is its capital: Jerusalem. The usual suspects are gnashing teeth and wailing that this will doom efforts to create a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Pardon me, has there been any movement on this eminently practical solution since 1948? There hasn't? That's what I thought, too. So exactly what is it that we're giving up?

For complicated reasons, no Palestinian government can agree to a two-state solution. It isn't something Israel can implement alone.

Watch for an announcement later today, the actual physical move may take much longer.

Weird Dietary Science

The Telegraph (U.K.) reports research results from Australia, with an interesting and counterintuitive finding. Professor Felice Jacka, who led the research at Deakin University, Victoria, is quoted as saying:

We had originally thought that red meat might not be good for mental health but it turns out that it actually may be quite important.

When we looked at women consuming less than the recommended amount of red meat in our study, we found that they were twice as likely to have a diagnosed depressive or anxiety disorder as those consuming the recommended amount.

Even when we took into account the overall healthiness of the women's diets, as well as other factors such as their socioeconomic status, physical activity levels, smoking, weight and age, the relationship between low red meat intake and mental health remained.

I'd urge caution in interpreting these findings. While diet may influence mood, as the article seems to suggest, it is also possible that mood influences diet. It's a chicken and egg problem.

Depressed women may avoid red meat because their depression makes them more anxious about their health. Red meat has a (mostly unearned) bad reputation among the health conscious. Hat tip to Instapundit Glenn Reynolds for the link.

The Dirtiest Cop in America?

RealClearPolitics has a transcript of Fox News' Tucker Carlson interviewing Joe DiGenova, former US Attorney for the District of Columbia. Asked about the FBI's troubles and former Director James Comey, DiGenova replied.

I think the FBI is in very serious trouble. It started with James Comey. Comey, the dirtiest cop in America, destroyed the FBI's reputation with his bizarre personal behavior, beginning way before his July 5th news conference. The bureau is in trouble. It needs a major overhaul, and if it continues to resist Congress, I believe the contempt of Congress for the current director and other people in the agency is absolutely justified.

Um, yeah ... I guess so. I hate to think DiGenova's correct, but the Bureau's troubles are palpable out in flyover country.

Bye-ku for Conyers

CBS News reports embattled Representative John Conyers (D-MI) has announced his retirement, effectively immediately. Conyers stands accused of sexual harassment by several women.

As is our custom, we present a bye-ku to commemorate his exit, with h/t to James Taranto, the form’s popularizer.

Farewell John Conyers,

To that good night go gentle,

Elderly lecher.

A GOP Epiphany: Why Not Tax the Rich?

Writing in The Washington Examiner Stephen Moore asks a question I’ve been waiting for someone with access to Republican ink to ask:

Democrats are now the party of the rich — so why not tax the rich?

The rich have become the guilty virtue-signalers, the agressive globalizers, the enemies of American workers, those whom open borders actually help. The rich have benefitted hugely from Democrat policies which harmed the American middle class, Their wealth insulates them from the downsides of Democrat policies with which the rest of us cope daily.

As the key beneficiaries and supporters of Democrat goals, they should pay the price of their selfishness.  And yes, these sweeping generalizations don’t apply to every wealthy individual, exceptions (c.f., the Kochs, Adelson) are both noted and appreciated.

Conflict of Interest at FBI

Various news outlets are reporting that Peter Strzok, FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence, was let go by the Mueller investigation for sending a colleague (and lover) emails outlining his disrespect for President Trump. Strzok is the same fellow who interviewed National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, catching him lying.

He also intervened to weaken the language in Director Comey's statement condemning Hillary Clinton's shoddy email practices. Taken together, these things make him a sort of all-purpose Democrat operative who coincidentally carries an FBI badge and supervises other agents.

What in the world has happened to professionalism in the Bureau? Founding Director Hoover must be rolling over in his grave.

A Never-Trumper Recants

Rich Lowry is a long-time conservative activist and current editor of National Review. He has also been a bitter never-Trumper and, in the latest NR issue, he finally “gets” Trump. It is as close to an apology as he’ll likely come, and honestly it is close enough.

There is a meme used by anti-Trump conservatives on Twitter. Whenever Trump steps in it, they tweet the words “But Gorsuch.” It is meant to mock Trump loyalists who hold out Gorsuch’s nomination as a Trump accomplishment that overshadows any of his failings.

But I’ve never quite understood why anti-Trump conservatives would be so slighting about Gorsuch. He will presumably be a bulwark of the Constitution long after Trump has departed the White House.

It’s simply not true that all we have to show from the Trump administration is Gorsuch.

He follows this with a decent, if incomplete, list of Trump’s accomplishments in office in less than a year. And Lowry concludes:

Trump has governed so far as more of a Republican and conservative than I expected.

Not exactly an apology, but close enough for government work. Welcome home, Rich. We’ve all made mistakes; it appears we agree the key thing is to recognize and learn from them and move on.

I’ll grant you some of the WWE/show biz aspects of Trumpism are undignified and a tad embarrassing. Misquoting a line from Casablanca, “We’ll always have Reagan.”

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Who watches the watchmen, who polices the police? It's a serious question asked by the Roman satirist Juvenal.

The Washington Examiner quotes a Tweet by Matt Drudge, founder of the Drudge Report, on the subject of odd doings at the FBI. Drudge is reported to have Tweeted:

We know what happens when one lies to the FBI. But what is the punishment when the FBI lies to us?

Or simply refuses to respond to legitimate Congressional inquiries? We may learn the answer to those conundrums sometime in the next two years.

Exodus

Consider this another chapter in COTTonLINE's continuing series on the decline (and eventual fall?) of California, the once-Golden State. The Los Angeles Times has an article containing a half dozen mini case studies of educated young people who've left SoCal and moved to Las Vegas and elsewhere for economic reasons.

The basic issue: housing costs - outrageous home prices and exorbitant rents. The alternative being up to a 2 hour each way commute from an area with lower prices. None of these conditions apply in Nevada.

An indifferently maintained 1200 sq, ft. CA bungalow with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, built 70 years ago might sell for half a million, depending on location. Scarcity creates apparent value - brutal conditions and ridiculous prices the result of nimby regulations and punitive fees on new construction.

When my father's people moved to SoCal before World War One, it must have been glorious. I wish I could have seen it. I really dislike the greater Los Angeles of today and avoid it whenever possible. San Francisco is no better. High population density is a bitch.

Later ... California reporter extraordinaire Dan Walters writes in San Jose's Mercury News that Federal data shows the state may already have set foot down the slippery slope of its next recession, one somewhat overdue by historical standards. When it arrives a recession is likely to raise anew many questions about whether CA's blue state high tax model is long-term viable.

The Last Thing ...

Read what Harvard Law prof emeritus Alan M. Dershowitz has to say about Special Prosecutor Mueller charging former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn with lying to FBI agents. His article appears in The Hill.

The second question is why did Mueller charge Flynn only with lying? The last thing a prosecutor ever wants to do is to charge a key witness with lying.

A witness such as Flynn who has admitted he lied — whether or not to cover up a crime — is a tainted witness who is unlikely to be believed by jurors who know he’s made a deal to protect himself and his son. They will suspect that he is not only “singing for his supper” but that he may be “composing” as well — that is, telling the prosecutor what he wants to hear, even if it is exaggerated or flat-out false.

You can be certain the legal team for anyone against whom Flynn testafies will makes those suspicions explicit in summation. Dershowitz concludes the lying plea reflects weakness, not strength.

Favoring Economic Growth

There is a lot of lying going on concerning the tax revisions being enacted by a Republican Congress. You will undoubtedly read that it will raise taxes on the middle class, and it may. What hardly anybody will tell you is this, from RealClearPolitics:

America is a dynamic country. A year from now, after tax reform passes, many unemployed people will be working again for the first time in a long time. Guess what? They will be paying higher taxes. Than zero. Putting people back to work does that.

Wouldn’t we (and they) rather they were at work, paying taxes for a change? Damn straight, everybody wins when that happens.

Having jobs may even slow the opiod crisis. Employed people aren’t sitting around feeling sorry for themselves, concentrating on their every ache and pain. “Productively busy” is how people function best.

Tillerson ... Safe for Now?

After The New York Times article we cited earlier, which reported Rex Tillerson was on the skids as SecState, there have been further developments. President Trump has essentially denied the accuracy of that article, labeling it with his favored term "Fake News."

Lead author Peter Baker, while liberal as most of his NYT colleagues, is no rumor-monger. He believed he had good reason to write what he wrote, had at least two independent sources at a guess. So let's explore what may have gone wrong.

It is very clear the President and the SecState have held different views from time to time, no question about that. Trump underlings in the White House may have planned a SecState succession assuming quite reasonably the boss found these differences more irritating than he actually does.

Alternatively, the whole thing may have been planting a leak as a way to send Tillerson a message to shape up and get "on message" or resign. If Rex told POTUS "message received," maybe he really is in no immediate jeopardy. In that case Baker was used, and is probably furious with his "sources."

Or it may be that the notoriously touchy Trump truly was planning to dump Tillerson. Hating having his surprise leaked, he changed his mind just to muddy the waters and destroy the leakers' reputations as WH sources.

Tillerson had better hope this last wasn't the case. Trump can change his mind about personnel matters rather quickly; ask Gen. Flynn whose tenure as National Security Advisor lasted just 25 days!

Unlike government, business moves quickly to solve personnel problems. At NBC Matt Lauer went from $30 million man to unperson in less than a week. Trump does it “business style” when he can.

The Stealth Library Cat

How about something light-hearted for a change? Fox News has the story of Max, the Library Cat. He's a big, ginger cat who likes to sneak into the Macalester College library in St. Paul. The story has photos and considerable charm.

The librarians perhaps should put some live traps out to see if they, perchance, have been infiltrated by a few mice or even, horrors, rats. There is a good chance Max smells some elusive little furry prey lurking in the stacks.

I'm sure ts eliot didn't include Max in his practical cats compendium, clearly he should have done.

Saturday Snark

Instapundit Glenn Reynolds cracks wise about the Roy Moore special senate election about to happen in Alabama. Given the allegations of Moore’s youthful indescretions with gals....

If Alabama sends Roy Moore to the Senate, I think it will be for the same reason Caligula sent a horse: As a gesture of contempt.

Maybe ... or perhaps “lesser of two evils” is understood in AL as it is elsewhere.

Understanding the Mueller Witch Hunt

The attorneys who blog at Power Line provide a link to a National Review article by former Federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy. In it, McCarthy lays out the underlying rationale of the Mueller “investigation.” Key quotes:

We’re in the wooly realm of counterintelligence, where anything goes. And in the event our aggressive prosecutor can’t find any crimes — which would be no surprise, since the investigation was not triggered by a crime — no matter: The special counsel is encouraged to manufacture crimes through the investigative process. Misleading assertions by non-suspects made to investigators probing non-crimes can be charged as felony false statements.

The end game of the investigation is the removal of Donald Trump from the presidency, either by impeachment (which does not require proof of a court-prosecutable crime) or by publicly discrediting Trump to such a degree that his reelection becomes politically impossible. The latter can be accomplished by projecting the appearance of a critical investigation (notwithstanding that there is no underlying crime), turning administration officials into suspects, and hopefully generating the false-statement prosecutions that help depict the administration as dishonest and icky.

While all that plays out, though, behold the frightening thing Mueller’s investigation has become: a criminalization of politics. In the new order of things, policy differences are the grist for investigation and prosecution.

These are very third world, banana republic goings-on. Clearly a parting gift from the less-than-fully-American Obama administration.

The Flynn Plea

I've been scanning pundit reactions to the Michael Flynn guilty plea. I've concluded that doing so you learn more about the pundit than about the plea.

The Flynn plea is a sort of litmus test, if you despise Trump you believe it is the beginning of Trump's end. If you like Trump, you say (probably accurately) Flynn has pled guilty to the same lying for which he was fired shortly after the inauguration and amounts to little.

Several attorneys writing about the Flynn plea say he lied about behavior that was not itself illegal. I am puzzled why he should lie about doing lawful things.

I am even more puzzled about why he had anything to say to the FBI beyond his name, address, and date of birth. The fifth amendment to our Constitution protects against self-incrimination, had he merely "taken the fifth" he would be a free man today.

Free, that is, unless he was already provably "dirty" and they've decided not to charge him for really bad things he did in exchange for him rolling on his former boss. Possible, yes, but breath holding is not yet suggested.

Later ... this latter possibility begins to look more likely in the cold, grey light of dawn.