It’s hot in Knoxville, and the AC at Seaton Castle isn’t cranking since the only outlet is being used by  the another, more critical appliance, making it a bit too sultry for his usual deep Friday thoughts. Instead, an oldie but goodie from Mud Lick.

Sheriff Roy Templeton finally had a day off. He’d told Deputy Miranda, his second in command, to hold all calls for the day unless the matter was nothing short of an active shooter scenario. Settling into his easy chair, Mud Lick’s top cop prepared to open his copy of Peter Thiel’s “Zero to One” and finally let the tension in his shoulders and neck release.

That’s when a loud buzzing noise emanating from the kitchen threatened to severely damage Sheriff Roy’s calm.

“Arlene!” Sheriff Roy yelled from the living room. “What in tarnation is that blasted noise?”

“It’s the dishwasher,” Mrs. Templeton yelled back. “It just started doing this and I have no idea why!” Continue reading →

Squandering public money on vanity projects, from a ballroom to an Arch, is bad enough, but at the very least it’s obvious. We know the monies are being spent. We know there are other things the money could be spent on. We know a choice was made and we can either be for it, against it, or ignore it. But there is a significant difference in kind when resources are diverted from their integral purpose to unadulterated vanity out of public view.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is assigning an army of 260 investigative analysts to a “priority” investigation related to the 2020 election in Fulton County, Ga., a reflection of President Trump’s ongoing push to prove his baseless claims that the 2020 election there was rigged.

The effort is outlined in an internal memo obtained by The New York Times and confirmed by a person familiar with the investigation. The memo says that the surge is part of a “priority” effort by Kash Patel, the director of the F.B.I. The analysts will work to complete “approximately 708 records checks,” according to the memo. The type of records being checked is unknown.

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After a two-day bench trial before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Miguel de la O, Precious Bland was acquitted of all counts by reason of insanity:

“As to count one, aggravated manslaughter, the defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity. As to count two of attempted murder in the first degree, the defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity. And as to count three attempted murder in the first degree, the defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity,” De La O said.

The state had accused Bland of intentionally drowning her 15-month-old daughter in a bathtub in 2021, and Judge de la O entered a judgment of acquittal. Bland’s defense lawyer, Larry Handfield, argued that she was suffering from a COVID-induced psychotic breakdown. Given the nature of the accusation, the age of the victim, the theory of defense, and the Court’s verdict, the stage was set for hysterics. And Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier delivered in schtick. Continue reading →

Over the years, I’ve decried efforts to redefine words and concepts in order to horseshoe current ideological shifts onto long-settled concepts. These ranged from the meaning of rape to the meaning of sex. It’s not a matter of whether these shifts were good policy, or desirable outcomes per se. They may well be, or not. That’s a separate debate. What mattered was that these were not what these words or concepts meant when they were used in the Constitution or laws. This was not our law, whether you liked it or not.

When Trump signed his Day One Executive Order redefining birthright citizenship, it received near-universal ridicule. Outside of a handful of radicals, it was a laughable effort to change what was unquestionably settled law as to the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. To add insult to injury, Trump tried to change it by presidential fiat, the absolute dopiest mechanism for trying to ram a spurious reinvention of the meaning of birthright citizenship down the throats of America. It was considered a joke, as was he for, inter alia, signing it. Continue reading →

It’s not that government by unaccountable bureaucracy is acceptable. It’s not, and over the years, as federal administrative agencies have been captured by the very people they were created to regulate, strayed from their legislated purpose into politicized realms to pursue ideological goals far beyond anything Congress authorized and grew into untouchable fiefdoms of their own that sneered at the idea that either court or public could hamper their total control over some niche of American society, it became clear that something had to change.

The first change was the Loper Bright decision, ending Chevron Deference. The next change was Trump v. Slaughter, holding that the president, as executive under Article II of the Constitution, had the inherent authority despite whatever limitations were crafted by Congress in the creation of a board, agency or commission to dictate who could hold a position in the Executive Branch. Continue reading →

Contrary to the fevered dreams of the woke, everything isn’t racism. That doesn’t mean, however, that a particular thing that the government does isn’t racist. Distinguishing between the two matters, the Supreme Court’s decision in Mullin v. Doe fails miserably to accomplish this critical task.

This case involves a challenge to the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian migrants in the US. TPS status protects from deportation migrants who entered the US from countries where conditions such as war, violence, or natural disaster make it dangerous for them to return home.

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He passed the audition, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, conflicted as he is between his criminal client and the nation he would putatively serve, awaits his confirmation hearing to replace the fired Pam Bondi who failed to successfully indict and prosecute Trump’s enemies. But then, it would ordinarily be expected that the auditioning attorney general would comply with the law. When it came to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Blanche just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“The Attorney General does not respond substantively to any of these arguments,” Sullivan, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, wrote in the opinion. “The Attorney General has conceded that he is in violation of the Act.”

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I’m living in a strange fever dream, friends. I was told no one from overseas would want to come to America by our media. We’re too extreme, too loud, too—hell, everything’s just wrong with us if you listen for ten minutes to CNN or MSNOW.

And then all of these beautiful European visitors came to America and reminded us all this country is pretty fucking badass.

We’ve had the Scots take over Boston and damn near drink the town dry. This Freddy fella from Germany has renewed my love of the American South and dined with Ron DeSantis. And the Norweigans who try Chik-Fil-A’s “spicy chicken burger” swear they’re never going back. Continue reading →

Not to insult feral cats, but it’s not easy to get more than 100 judges to agree on anything. It’s something of an occupational hazard. Yet, former California Superior Court Judge Brett Alldredge has been part of a group of former judges, the Retired Judges Initiative, standing together to uphold the rule of law and judicial independence. Judge Alldredge was kind enough to send over their efforts. They call it the Wall of Justice.

The accompanying press release fleshes out their goals. Continue reading →

There were only two candidates on the primary ballot on Tuesday, one of whom was Tommy Suozzi, the former Nassau County Supervisor who served in the House until he ran against Kathy Hochul for governor. He lost that primary, while an unknown Republican took his former House seat. That was George Santos, a lying fabulist who was expelled from the House in short order, criminally convicted and then had his sentence commuted by Trump after he expressed his undying devotion.

Suozzi, who is what he calls a pragmatic Democrat, won the primary. He’s a liberal, not a progressive. While I don’t agree with him about everything, I appreciate his refusal to succumb to the progressive ideology, standing his ground rather than going along. It’s probably the most important thing a politician can do, stand for something. It was rare before. It’s exceptionally rare now. Continue reading →