LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: SOTU Reviews, Dems Deliver Funeral Vision of America and Much, Much More. “The President’s guests at the speech were a great way to tell the story he wanted to tell. The Democrats looked like sour pusses and bitchy babies but that’s no surprise since their political position is to sell misery and discord.”

But after that speech, there may be fewer people buying.

ALLIES:

That’s a pretty clear threat of war coming from a putative military ally.

BYRON YORK: On immigration, Trump goes for it all.

Back in 2015, before the presidential primaries began, a voter asked candidate Donald Trump if he believed compromise should be part of politics.

“Compromise is not a bad word to me,” Trump answered. “But if you are going to compromise, ask for about three times more than you want. You understand? So when you compromise, you get what you want.”

Now, President Trump is engaged in delicate negotiations with Congress over immigration. And he has come up with a deal. On one hand, he’s making a big offer to Democrats: legal status for 1.8 million people in the country illegally, which is more than the 800,000 or so covered by former President Barack Obama’s old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA — plus a path to citizenship for all of them.

In return, Trump is making a big ask: A fully-funded border wall, strong limits on chain migration, and an end to the visa lottery.

The questions for Democrats: Is Trump asking for three times more than he wants? Can his position be negotiated down? Or is this the deal they should take?

This stuff can be a real art.

WAS DONALD TRUMP CHANNELING BILL CLINTON’S 1995 SOTU? Brendan Kirby at LifeZette checked the clips and found some uncanny similarities between Trump’s statements on immigration issues and those made by Slick Willie to the first Republican Congress in 40 years.

FASTER, PLEASE: Trump on #ReleaseTheMemo: ‘Don’t worry… 100 percent.’

SALENA ZITO on blue-collar reactions to Trump’s speech.

A BAD NIGHT FOR THE DEMOCRATS: “Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi watching Trump’s speech looked like a pair of sullen six-year olds on a sugar crash the day after Halloween. Bernie Sanders looked mummified. Schumer was slumped so deeply in his chair he was almost falling through the crack. Other Democrats, even ones who should have known better or secretly felt otherwise, sat on their hands. You could see them glancing at each other, wondering whether they were allowed to applaud or stand up.”

WELL, YOU CAN SEE WHY THAT WOULD THROW THEM: Media confused after Trump pushes agenda he was elected to enact.

LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: Venezuelans Are So Hungry ‘They Have to Loot to Eat.’

Sporadic looting, food riots and protests driven by the hungry poor have surged in Venezuela, a country that’s no stranger to unrest. But the uprisings playing out recently have a different face than the mostly middle-class protesters who took to the streets for months last year in political demonstrations trying to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

“These protests are coming from people of the lower classes who simply cannot get enough to eat,” said David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America, who has spent decades researching Venezuela. “They want relief, not necessarily to force Maduro from power.”

They’re going to find they can’t get the former before they get the latter.

ANN ALTHOUSE CORRECTS THE NYT: Was Trump’s SOTU theme “nationalism”? Was it devoid of values? Freedom, individualism, and self-government are all values, she points out. Well, but not values that are recognized at the NYT. Plus: “Barbaro/Landler seemed critical of Trump’s minimizing himself, as if that’s a tricky device, but Trump — who is so often denounced as narcissistic — should get at least some credit for performing the absence of narcissism.”

Meanwhile, Joy Reid sees values, hates them.

Yes, the Democrats should absolutely run foursquare against all of these things, this year and in 2020.

AT AMAZON, Jordan Perterson’s book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos is still at #1.

ROLL CALL: Why the House Is Voting on Defense Funding a Third Time.

IRAN: Woman Arrested After 10 Minutes of Hijab Protesting, Two People Filming Her Also Arrested.

DON SURBER: “That was no State of the Union address tonight. That was the death of Democratic Party.”

Don’t get cocky, kid. But yeah, not only was the speech good, but they looked awful. Surber: “Democrats have nothing. They stand for equal pay (the law since 1963). Civil rights (1964). Gun control (1968). Abortion on demand (1973). Why not call for the end to Prohibition (1933)?”

YES. Michael Goodwin: Donald Trump Is Teaching Republicans How To Fight. “The Dems who came to hear the president looked like the unhappiest people on Earth.”

LIST: 5 Things Democrats Refused To Applaud During SOTU.

I WATCHED, AND IT WAS QUITE NOTICEABLE. IT’S NOT JUST THIS ONE PICTURE. Joe Kennedy’s ‘drool-mouth’ outshines his State of the Union response.. I thought he was doing quite well at first, but after a couple of minutes his delivery became wooden and the drool became very distracting. Also, when he broke into Spanish it kinda undercut the argument that “Dreamers” are all-American types who’ve never known any other country.

YUGE NUMBERS: Viewers approve of Trump’s first State of the Union address.

Three in four Americans who tuned in to President Trump’s State of the Union address tonight approved of the speech he gave. Just a quarter disapproved.

Eight in 10 Americans who watched tonight felt that the president was trying to unite the country, rather than divide it. Two-thirds said the speech made them feel proud, though just a third said it made them feel safer. Fewer said the speech made them feel angry or scared.

The optics aren’t good for Democrats who sat and scowled for almost everything garnering numbers like those.

IT’S LIKE THIS WHOLE “TRUMP IS GOING TO FIRE MUELLER” THING IS JUST DEM AGITPROP: McConnell: Mueller needs ‘no protection’ from Trump.

CBS POLL: 75% OF VIEWERS APPROVE OF STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH. “Eight in 10 Americans who watched tonight felt that the president was trying to unite the country, rather than divide it. Two-thirds said the speech made them feel proud, though just a third said it made them feel safer. Fewer said the speech made them feel angry or scared.”

TRUMP, NORMALIZED:

SUZANNE VENKER: America is waking up to the farce that is feminism.

First, there was Dr. Jordan Peterson’s infamous takedown of feminist Cathy Newman, whose debate on feminist issues has garnered almost 5 million views on YouTube and almost 75,000 comments to date, not to mention a slew of op-eds.

Now, there’s President Trump’s refusal to call himself a feminist.

I have high hopes that America is waking up to the farce that is feminism. “For the first time in decades, if not ever, [feminism’s] tenets are being publicly challenged,” writes Corey Schink for Sign fo the Times.

It is long overdue, for we can now expose feminism for what it is: a war on men, on children, and on family.

Today, it is widely accepted that women in America always get the short end of the stick. According to feminists, women have been oppressed for centuries. We’re told not enough progress has been made and that society still hasn’t leveled the playing field. This philosophy is so embedded in our culture that Americans don’t question it. We don’t even label it “feminist” to think this way; it’s just commonplace to believe women suffer discrimination.

Turn on the television, flip through a magazine, or search America’s airwaves, and you’ll be deluged with stories about women who wonder how their needs can best be met, how they can balance their lives better, or how they can deal with the myriad of problems and dangers they face. Women’s grievances dominate the conversation.

But just as smoking went out of fashion, so will feminism.

The turning point was in 2007, when researchers concluded the following: “As women have gained more freedom, more education, and more power, they have become less happy.”

Weird, that.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Being Miserable Is A Choice.

IN THE EMAIL FROM LAURA MONTGOMERY:  Mercenary Calling.

Exoplanets. Terrorists. Lawyers…

Calvin Tondini has his first client, but he may be in over his head.

It’s the twenty-second century. Humanity’s first and only interstellar starship returns safely. Its mission to discover a habitable planet succeeded beyond all hopes, but there’s one problem. Captain Paolina Nigmatullin of the USS Aeneid left an unsanctioned human colony behind and now stands charged with mutiny.

Despite a somewhat spontaneous approach to his own career, life, and limb, Calvin intends to map a more cautious path for his new client. Captain Nigmatullin, however, shows an unnerving penchant for talk shows–appearing on them, that is–and otherwise ignoring her attorney’s sober counsel.

How can Calvin ensure his client’s freedom when death stalks the Aeneid‘s crew, and Nigmatullin herself hides secrets from everyone, even her lawyer?

FACE IT, BLAZE ORANGE DOESN’T REALLY LOOK GOOD ON ANYONE:  Lawmaker says female hunters prefer to feel pretty in pink.

HOLLYWOOD FINDS NEW WAYS TO ROLL LEFT:   ‘Guardians’ Director Plays Hitler Card 8 Times Vs. Trump.

IT’S OKAY, THE NFL HAS BEEN DOING THEIR BEST TO DISSUADE PEOPLE FROM TRAVELING TO WATCH THE GAME… OR REALLY FROM WATCHING THE GAME AT ALL:  The Super Bowl could turn into a giant petri dish of influenza.

I REMAIN CONFIDENT IN THE INGENUITY OF OUR AIRLINES:  Airlines are running out of ways to charge customers more.

WELL, SOME GOOD FALLOUTOF #METOO:  David Stras confirmed to Eighth Circuit.

BUT DOES ANYONE ELSE?  #SOTU: Democrats Love Dead Kennedys.

INTERESTING:  Trump administration yanks funding for “Climate-Related Fellowships”. So no tears dollars for fears?

BREATHE EASY:  Why 2017’s “Third Warmest Year on Record” is a Yawner.

ONLY IF YOU HAVE A VERY ODD DEFINITION OF POORER:  The Poor Get Poorer?

SUSCEPTIBILITY TO SOCIAL PRESSURE IS A TERRIBLE BURDEN:  Why women always want men they can’t have.

January 30, 2018

HOT AIR: The very tremendous State of the Union.

TONIGHT’S OPEN THREAD: Talk about the State of the Union or whatever you want.

AT AMAZON, save in Movies and TV.

Plus, fresh deals in Industrial and Scientific.

ANN ALTHOUSE: “An excellent speech, extremely well delivered, I think.”

MOVING TO WOODFORD RESERVE, AS A TOAST: A toast to a superb speech that acknowledged America’s overwhelmingly wonderful reality and our promising opportunities.

The Prez took deserved shots at Russia and China. Thank you, sir. Nice take down factually and morally of North Korea.

Yet The Nancy and Slow Chuck sat on their gnarly fingers. Stupid. Very stupid. Totally stupid…ok, it’s Nancy and Chuck…

IT’S DIFFERENT WHEN HILLARY DOES IT BECAUSE SHUT UP:

LINGUISTIC KILL SHOT IS A COOL TERM: But here’s another take, Glenn: Trump’s speech is a superb example of political creativity. He has created political space for productive change on immigration. He has used a form of political and media judo. He has employed Democrat media tactics –here, before you are the victims of your policies — to hammer obstructionist Democrat policies. “Get the job done.” Trump is about getting it done. No wonder the swamp hates him. The swamp is invested in perpetual grievance.

DEMOCRATS: TRUMP IS SO DIVISIVE! Trump:

The United States is a compassionate nation. We are proud that we do more than any other country to help the needy, the struggling, and the underprivileged all over the world. But as President of the United States, my highest loyalty, my greatest compassion, and my constant concern is for America’s children, America’s struggling workers, and America’s forgotten communities. I want our youth to grow up to achieve great things. I want our poor to have their chance to rise.

So tonight, I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties — Democrats and Republicans — to protect our citizens of every background, color, religion, and creed. My duty, and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber, is to defend Americans — to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American Dream. Because Americans are dreamers too.

Related:

I THINK SCOTT ADAMS WOULD CALL THIS A “LINGUISTIC KILL SHOT” OR SOMETHING: Trump: “Americans are dreamers, too.”

IT’S MANHATTANS HERE: Decent rye, Antica sweet vermouth and Luxardo cherries. Slice of orange. Dash of orange bitters. Thoroughly enjoying the President’s speech. Super to see Rep. Scalise recognized.

IT’S KNOB CREEK HERE, NOT BASIL HAYDEN, but I won’t be drunkblogging like Stephen Green. Leave it to the pros!

UPDATE: Okay, I got a little snarky on Twitter.

1968: IN 50 YEARS WE’LL HAVE FLYING CARS!

2018: Teens, Please Stop Eating Laundry Detergent.

JIMMY KIMMEL STRIKES OUT WITH STORMY DANIELS. Daniels: Yeah, that “affair” with Trump never happened. “I am not denying this affair because I was paid ‘hush money’ as has been reported in overseas owned tabloids. I am denying this affair because it never happened.” Fake news!

SCOTCH & SOTU: I’m drunkblogging Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address, along with the rest of PJM’s Hot Mic crew.

The liveblog page updates automatically, so just click and scroll.

Tonight’s cocktail is Basil Hayden’s and a splash, if you’re playing along at home.

PAUL RYAN: It’s time to “cleanse” the FBI.

STAY TUNED, THERE’S MORE: DOJ Inspector General focused on McCabe’s role in the final weeks of the 2016 election.

INVESTIGATIONS: U.S. Probes Apple Over Updates That Slow Older iPhones.

D. C. McALLISTER: Americans See the State of the Union as Strong Economically, But They’re Divided on Almost Everything Else.

Read the whole thing.

OUCH:

WHY WE TALK DIFFERENT: Appalachian English.

FEMINISTS’ NEW TARGET: Working-Class Women.

PLANET FITNESS: A Rant.

WHY DO DEMOCRATS HATE AMERICA? Chuck Schumer is torpedoing the infrastructure plan before it’s even announced.

I guess it provides too many jobs for burly men.

CHANGE: 2020 Ford Explorer Goes Rear-Wheel Drive, Steals Lincoln Engine.

LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND VAPID: Sarah Hoyt asks, Who Are These “People’s State of the Union” People?

THE LEFT EATS ITS OWN, PART MMMMCCCLXVII: Climate alarmist Bill Nye called out by “500 Women Scientists” for legitimizing climate skepticism by attending the State of the Union address. “500 Women Scientists,” by the way, appears to be four women.

THE CHIPS ARE DOWN: Bone Marrow and Heart Attack. “They have learned that a bizarre accumulation of mutated stem cells in bone marrow increases a person’s risk of dying within a decade, usually from a heart attack or stroke, by 40 or 50 percent. They named the condition with medical jargon: clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential. CHIP has emerged as a risk for heart attack and stroke that is as powerful as high LDL or high blood pressure but it acts independently of them. And CHIP is not uncommon.”

THIS WAS MERELY A MATTER OF TIME. ESPN Host: Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish Mascot Is Offensive, Needs to Change.

ESPN morphed into MSNBC so quickly, it was impossible not to notice.

NEW YOU CAN USE: What Millennials Should Know About the Soviet Union.

GOOD: Saliva-based HIV test may be as reliable as blood test.

BRENDAN O’NEILL: Feminists have a new target: working-class women.

This is the nature of feminism today: it has become a well-off women’s racket. It has become a means for educated women to secure their position in the media, business and politics. Witness the new feminism’s myopic obsession with numbers of women on company boards, or the exact ratio of male-to-female guests on the Today programme, or how female MPs are addressed on Twitter. The vast majority of women, and men, do not work in these fields, of course. Feminism, clearly, isn’t for them. In fact, feminism is very often against them, especially if they are those ‘bad women’ who take jobs or have points of view that mainstream feminists disapprove of. Those women will be raged against by the sisterhood.

But they aren’t all that “new” a target; as Fred Siegel wrote a few years ago in The Revolt Against the Masses: How Liberalism Has Undermined the Middle Class, “The best short credo of liberalism came from the pen of the once canonical left-wing literary historian Vernon Parrington in the late 1920s. ‘Rid society of the dictatorship of the middle class,’ Parrington insisted, referring to both democracy and capitalism, ‘and the artist and the scientist will erect in America a civilization that may become, what civilization was in earlier days, a thing to be respected.’”

Based on the number of #metoo tags emanating from women working in Hollywood and the news media, that project doesn’t appear to be going all that well for the left.

WELL, THEY’RE NOT EXACTLY AWASH WITH OIL REVENUES ANYMORE: Russia military spending almost halved from 2015 peak and Russia near financial collapse.

Thanks, Frackers! Weird that the people most worried about Russians under their beds are the least supportive of fracking, the most powerful tool in existence against Russian power projection.

AT AMAZON, save on Power & Hand Tools.

THIS IS BAD: Berserk leprosy bacteria are wildly mutating to become extremely drug resistant.

THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE IS TOUGHER TO BEAT THAN MANY PEOPLE EXPECTED: Mazda Says Its Next-Generation Gasoline Engine Will Run Cleaner Than an Electric Car.

J.D. TUCCILLE: FBI’s Unsavory History Casts Shadow Over Debate About Political Meddling.

Trump may have had reason to be concerned about FBI politicking. Leaked text messages shared by two romantically involved FBI employees who were involved in the probe into Russian meddling revealed their belief that Trump is “loathsome” and an “idiot.” At the same time, they had a soft spot for his major opponent, Hillary Clinton, noting that they should take it easy in investigating her conduct because “She might be our next president. The last thing you need us going in there loaded for bear'”

This has Republicans waging what Vox’s Jane Coaston calls a “war on the FBI,” claiming that partisan bias extends beyond those two FBI texting buddies to taint the whole bureau. Democrats beg to differ. “I can assure you that the men and women at the bureau are dedicated public servants committed to defending the American people and upholding the law,” protests Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.).

But those “dedicated public servants” who are “upholding the rule of law” are the institutional descendants of the folks the bipartisan Church Committee said “all too often disregarded the Constitutional rights of Americans.” In their domestic operations, the report revealed, “FBI intelligence reports on protest activity and domestic dissent accumulated massive information on lawful activity and law-abiding citizens.”

And yes, the FBI used the information it gathered to become an active player in politics.

Maybe we should just abolish the Bureau.

EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING: Joni Mitchell’s “brilliant art was always a product of artifice as much as it was of honesty.”

IN THE MAIL: From Albert Ellis, How To Make Yourself Happy.

Plus, fresh Gold Box and Lightning Deals. New deals every hour. We very much appreciate your buying via InstaPundit Amazon links!

WILLING THE STASI INTO EXISTENCE: Oklahoma State Activists Want a Bias Response Team with the Power to Punish Racially Insensitive Speech.

I TALK TO MIKE STOPA AND TODD FEINBURG on the Harvard Lunch Club Podcast. Breakout quote: “Apollo was like a command economy. And a command economy is like being on steroids – your muscles get big but your testicles shrink, so it’s ultimately not sustainable.”

BURIED LEDE: NANCY PELOSI FINALLY UTTERS A TRUE STATEMENT! Pelosi Gets Testy With Chris Cuomo: ‘You Really Don’t Know What You’re Talking About’ [VIDEO].

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: VIDEO: Students hate Trump’s SOTU…before it even happens!

Related: Yale student says classmates insist on ‘leftist viewpoints.’ “A Yale University student recently criticized her peers for shunning ‘alternative voices’ after she was ‘roasted’ for defending British-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie in class.
Anushree Agrawal, who comes from a similar culture as Rushdie, says her classmates blasted Rushdie as a ‘woman-hater,’ then attacked her for explaining that he was simply depicting the world that he was writing about.”

RADICAL CHIC, THE GERITOL YEARS:

Establishment Media Bury Obama-Farrakhan Photo.

● “Managing editor of The Beat DC, Tiffany Cross, said Democrats should treat their state of the union response like a ‘trailer for the black panther party,’ Sunday on MSNBC’s ‘AM Joy.’”

The deep meaning of Keith Ellison.

In 2005, on the 35 anniversary of Leonard and Felicia Bernstein’s infamous fundraising party for the Black Panthers in their uber-swank Park Ave. duplex that inspired Tom Wolfe’s epochal “Radical Chic” article for New York magazine, I asked: “Has radical chic run its course?… the next four years will be interesting to watch, indeed. The wheels came off [for the Democrats as they moved further and further left during McGovern’s run] in ’72. This might be their last chance to put them back on.”

Given Alan Dershowitz’s shocked reaction this past week that he would not have campaigned for Obama had he known about his affiliation with Farrakhan, burying the Obama-Farrakhan photo may have bought the Democrats some breathing room in 2008. But radical chic continues to be one of the key motivators for that “progressive” party, despite being a half-century old worldview.

NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN: Elon Musk Sells $3.5 Million Worth Of Flamethrowers In One Day.

THE HILL: Expect Trump’s State of the Union to celebrate America — and provide a roadmap to the future. Seems like a safe bet.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: SOTU Day, ‘Andy’s office’ is Empty and Much, Much More. “Presidential-hopeful Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) is bringing the wacky Mayor of San Juan. Some politicians will be bringing members of the DACA crew. Some will not show up at all. The left will also offer no less than six different responses to Trump’s speech.”

I’ll drunkblog SOTU tonight, with the able assistance of the Hot Mic crew.

THEY THOUGHT THEY’D GET AWAY WITH IT, AND THEY THOUGHT THEY’D BE REWARDED FOR THEIR MALFEASANCE: Victor Davis Hanson: Hillary’s ‘Sure’ Victory Explains Most Everything.

The traditional way of looking at the developing scandals at the FBI and among holdover Obama appointees in the DOJ is that the bizarre atmospherics from candidate and President Trump have simply polarized everyone in Washington, and no one quite knows what is going on.

Another, more helpful, exegesis, however, is to understand that if we’d seen a Hillary Clinton victory in November 2016, which was supposed to be a sure thing, there would now be no scandals at all.

That is, the current players probably broke laws and committed ethical violations not just because they were assured there would be no consequences but also because they thought they’d be rewarded for their laxity. . . .

If we consider the mentality of government elite careerists, we see that the election-cycle machinations and later indiscretions of Strzok and Page were not liabilities at all. They were good investments. They signaled their loyalty to the incoming administration and that they were worthy of commendation and reward.

Hillary Clinton’s sure victory certainly also explains the likely warping of the FISA courts by FBI careerists seeking to use a suspect dossier to surveille Trump associates — and the apparent requests by Samantha Power, Susan Rice, and others to read surveilled transcripts of Trump associates, unmask names, and leak them to pet reporters. Again, all these insiders were playing the careerist odds. What we view as reprehensible behavior, they at the time considered wise investments that would earn rewards with an ascendant President Hillary Clinton.

Yep.

THE WEEK: “America’s Constitution is terrible. Let’s throw it out and start over.”

As Steve Hayward writes in response, “It’s Official: Liberals Hate Constitutional Government.”

THEY’RE NOT MISSING IT. THEY’RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE ELSE MISSES IT: Mollie Hemingway: Media Is Missing “Something Huge” Happening At FBI.

You had Bruce Ohr, who was demoted twice.

You had Peter Strzok, who had to be taken off the case.

You had Baker, who is gone, and Rybicki, also.

This is quite a collection of people, obviously, there is something huge going on. And I think a lot of people in the media are missing this very large story. Perhaps this memo will help us learn a little bit more about what it is that is causing these changes.

Well, in the immortal words of Jim Treacher:

MICHAEL BARONE: All that you — and Justice Anthony Kennedy — need to know about redistricting and gerrymandering.

Does gerrymandering matter? Not as much as you might think. You’re sure to be wrong if you take at face value the rhetoric of liberals who seem to place most of the blame for Republican majorities in the House of Representatives on partisan map-making.

I have argued repeatedly — in December 2017, September 2017, July 2015, October 2014, September 2014, January 2014, and February 2013, that redistricting is less important in securing Republican congressional and legislative majorities than demographic clustering — the fact that Democratic voters are increasingly concentrated in black, Hispanic, gentry liberal and university areas.

That’s because Democrats’ huge majorities in districts dominated by such voters do nothing to elect Democrats in the remaining districts. A party with clustered constituencies is inevitably disadvantaged by a system of equal-population legislative districts. That conclusion is confirmed by the research of political scientists Jowei Chen (University of Michigan) and Jonathan Rodden (Stanford), as reported in the New York Times in 2014, and it was confirmed once again last week by the work of David Wasserman and three colleagues at FiveThirtyEight in their Atlas of Redistricting. . . .

Wasserman and his colleagues, FiveThirtyEight journalists Aaron Bycoffe, Ella Koeze and Julia Wolfe, have produced splendid work. It should be required reading for anyone interested in understanding redistricting, and for those — including Justice Anthony Kennedy — who hope there is or think there must be some easy answer, some computer algorithm or legal formula, which will guarantee fair, non-partisan redistricting. There isn’t.

The best solution, and one I have long advocated, is strict application of the equal-population standard adopted by the Supreme Court in 1964, which limits more stringently than most observers think the ability of redistricters to benefit their party or faction. This also has the advantage of being easily, ministerially (a legal term) enforced by the courts in a non-partisan manner.

All I know is that when gerrymandering benefited Democrats, it was just only of those hilarious political shenanigans that happen. It wasn’t until it looked like it might benefit Republicans that it became an Urgent Threat To The Republic.

ANALYSIS: TRUE.

And in general, the high-horse reaction to the Trump presidency is particularly irritating because of its admixture of dishonesty, incompetence, and deep sanctimony. I mean, I know we have the worst political class in our history, but do they have to work so hard to prove it?

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: California teacher slams military members as ‘lowest of the low’ in classroom rant caught on video.

Shades of John Kerry’s infamous 2006 “You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq” line in 2006 at Pasadena City College.

JOEL KOTKIN: The Screwed Millennial Generation Gets Smart.

Despite the hype from the press and urban planners, millennials are following in the footsteps of previous generations by locating on the periphery major metropolitan areas and Sun Belt cities, most of which are simply agglomerations of suburbs.

This pattern seems certain to accelerate as millennials enter their thirties, the age when contemporary populations tend to marry, settle down, and have children. To be sure, notes Pew, more 18- to 34-year-olds now live with their parents than with spouses or significant others for the first time since the question was first asked in the 1880s. But when they do leave the nest, albeit later than in previous generations, they are becoming adults whose collective decisions are not so different from those of their parents.

Nice to see them normalizing.

YOU’RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BLOG: Here’s How Reports of Trump’s Stormy Daniels Affair Gave SHARK CHARITIES a Boost Worldwide.