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Wednesday, January 17, 2024

MSNBC Host Rachel Maddow Has Meltdown on Panel After Trump Wins Iowa Caucus

She also acknowledges the media is colluding to censor Trump. HotAir: It is not breaking news that MSNBC is anti-Trump. It is unusual for a progressive activist who plays a political show host on MSNBC to level with the audience about its political bias. Maddow explained that Trump won in Iowa and he was beginning to speak. She went on to say MSNBC and other news outlets have stopped airing his speeches live because they don’t air “untrue things” (HotAir). Reporter Michael Shellenberger: MSNBC host Rachel Maddow says NBC and other mainstream news networks have decided not to show Trump’s victory speech. CNN had him on briefly but then cut away and replaced him with Jake Tapper who says “caucus goers believe the lie” (X). Townhall: Joy Reid: Iowa is “overrepresented by white Christians” (X). Collin Rugg: Far-left MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has a meltdown after “fascist” Donald Trump’s solid performance in the Iowa caucuses. “If we’re worried about our democracy falling to an authoritarian and potentially fascist form of government. The leader who is trying to do that is part of that equation… Is a much bigger part of that equation” (X).

Two Navy SEALs Go Missing While on Mission to Intercept Weapons Meant to Resupply Houthi Terrorists

National Review: The U.S. Navy successfully seized Iranian weapons bound for Yemen-based Houthis in the military branch’s first reported interdiction operation. Navy SEALs obtained missile components and warheads on a dhow sent from Iran to Houthi rebels on Thursday. The Navy boarded the dhow off the coast of Somalia in the Arabian Sea, seizing various weapons parts belonging to ballistic and anti-ship cruise missiles. Two Navy SEALs went missing during the maneuver. One was climbing a ladder aboard a vessel during the overnight mission when high waves knocked him into the water, prompting the other to rescue him. Neither man has been seen since Thursday (National Review). Wall Street Journal: Houthi rebels in Yemen, backed by Iran, have launched dozens of attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. In retaliation, the U.S. led strikes on Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen last week. The search is still ongoing, the waters are warm and they might still be alive (Wall Street Journal).

Biden to Reverse Course and Redesignate the Houthi Rebel Group as a Terrorist Organization

What took him so long? Wall Street Journal: The Biden administration plans to put the Houthi rebel group back on one of its lists of terrorist organizations, days after the U.S. launched strikes on its facilities in Yemen in retaliation for months of attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, officials said. The placement as a specially designated global terrorist group, which the U.S. plans to formally announce on Wednesday, reverses a decision made early in President Biden’s term to remove the Houthis from the list over concerns it hurt prospects for peace talks and further crippled the economy of an impoverished nation at risk of famine. The Trump administration first put the Houthis on the list. The designation bars people or companies in the U.S. from offering just about any kind of support to the group and prohibits its members from entering the U.S. It also requires U.S. financial institutions to freeze any funds they hold belonging to the group or under its control (Wall Street Journal).

Iranian Launches “Unprovoked” Missile Strike in Pakistan Killing Two Children

Iran once again defies international law and threatens to rapidly increase already-high tensions in the Middle East. AP: Iran launched attacks Tuesday in Pakistan targeting what it described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl, potentially further raising tensions in a Middle East already roiled by Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Pakistan said the strikes killed two children and wounded three others in an assault it described as an “unprovoked violation” of its airspace. The attack inside of nuclear-armed Pakistan by Iran threatens the relations between the two countries, which long have eyed each other with suspicion while maintaining diplomatic relations. The attack also follows Iranian strikes on Iraq and Syria less than a day earlier (AP). Fox News: Late Monday, Iran fired missiles into northern Syria targeting the Islamic State group and into Iraq at what it called an Israeli “spy headquarters” near the U.S. Consulate compound in the city of Irbil (Fox News).

Shell Halts All Routes Through the Red Sea Amid Increasing Hostilities in Region

Wall Street Journal: British oil major Shell PLC suspended all shipments through the Red Sea indefinitely after U.S. and U.K. strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels triggered fears of further escalation, according to people familiar with the decision. The West’s targeting of the Iranian-ally militia came after the Houthis launched dozens of missiles and drones at commercial vessels around the Red Sea and the nearby Bab el-Mandeb. The militia has said the attacks are in response to an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. Around 12% of total global seaborne oil trade goes through the Red Sea (Wall Street Journal). Fox Business: Houthis targeted a tanker by Shell on its way to carry Indian jet fuel through the Red Sea last month (Fox Business).

As Republicans Pressure the Speaker to Compromise on Border Policy, Mike Johnson Stands Firm

Politico: Speaker Mike Johnson is publicly and privately panning the Senate’s ongoing border and immigration negotiations. Senate Republicans are reminding him that it’s the best deal he’ll ever get. Republicans senators said on Tuesday that they see only worse opportunities ahead to craft a border bill that can pass, given that Democrats who run the Senate and White House are now considering major changes to asylum policy, new expulsion authorities and perhaps even putting limits on presidential parole authority. If Republicans try to wait for a better deal after November’s election, senators say, they could end up with GOP control over Congress and the White House — but Democrats who are in no mood to deal on the issue (Politico). Speaker Johnson: Absolutely not (X). Hugh Hewitt: 100% with Speaker Johnson: No 900 miles of wall —fully authorized “notwithstanding any other law or treaty” and fully funded in FY 2024 with construction this year— it is a hard no. The base will revolt and crack just before an election. Just. No (X).

Supreme Court Hears Case That Could Strike Blow to Administrative State

City Journal: In Chevron, the Court directed lower courts to give agencies great leeway in administering broadly worded statutes. When a statute—say, a provision of the Clean Air Act—is not clear but ambiguous, then the courts should generally defer to the agency’s reasonable interpretation of the statute. Following the federal courts’ micromanagement of federal agencies—especially agencies’ deregulatory efforts in the 1970s and 1980s—Chevron was originally defended as a way to ensure that judges didn’t supplant presidential administrations’ policy judgments. Chevron was intended to elevate both expertise and political accountability in presidential administration, simplify judicial review, and reinforce Congress’s central role in American government. In hindsight, it fell far short in all of these objectives, and may well have undermined them (City Journal). Carol Platt Liebau: The problem with this approach is that the Constitution vests legislative power in our Congress—not in administrative agencies staffed by unelected bureaucrats. The Loper Bright Enterprises and Relentless cases give the Supreme Court an opportunity to make that point clear. It’s also a chance to return lawmaking to leaders that voters can hold accountable (Townhall Review).

Pro-Hamas Activists Arrested by Capitol Police for Illegally Occupying Cannon House Building

Is this considered an insurrection? Townhall: On Tuesday, the U.S. Capitol Police arrested 130 people for illegally protesting at the Cannon House Office Building in yet another pro-Hamas demonstration. Such arrests come less than three months after pro-Hamas agitators were similarly illegally protesting at Cannon, with arrests being made at the time there as well. The House called off votes due to winter storms in Washington, D.C., though the Senate is still operating so as to avert a government shutdown (Townhall). Chad Pergram: USCP arrest 130 people in connection with pro-Palestinian demonstration in the Cannon Rotunda. Charged with “Crowding, Obstructing, or Incommoding” – for illegally protesting inside the Cannon House Office Building (X). Marjorie Taylor Green: Another Hamas insurrection in the Cannon House office building (X)!

Nikki Haley Declines to Participate in Upcoming Debates

Townhall: Former South Carolina governor and GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley announced Tuesday morning that she will not participate in the upcoming Republican primary debates in New Hampshire. The two debates in the Granite State were set for Thursday and Saturday (Townhall). Nikki Haley: ’ve had five great debates in this campaign. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it (X).

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New Labor Rule From Biden Decimates Independent Contracting

National Review: A recent regulatory change by the Biden administration is so poorly designed, there’s no telling exactly how many workers will be hurt. From actors and designers to truckers and construction workers, I’ve heard the same thing over and over. Independent contracting gives workers the flexibility to pursue their passions, either full-time or on the side. But now, as many as 73 million Americans who are independent contractors could lose that freedom. So may every American who might have pursued this path in the future. On January 10, President Biden’s Labor Department issued a new rule that will gut independent contracting nationwide. While the department and much of the media are framing the rule as a win for workers, it’s anything but. The Biden administration, which claims the rule will make it easier for workers to get employment benefits, overtime pay, and minimum wage, is really looking out for the interests of labor unions, which have struggled to organize independent contractors and find it much easier to go after traditional employees. There’s nothing pro-worker about stifling workers in favor of special interests (National Review).