The Left & Trump Supporters Are Trying To Blame Ben Sasse For Bill Maher's Racial Epithet

Near the outset of the conversation between Nebraska Republican Senator Ben Sasse and Bill Maher, Sasse invites Maher to come "work in the fields". To which Maher replies, "Work in the fields? Senator, I'm a house nigga."

But because a liberal comedian uttered the N-word, the blame must be placed on the conservative Senator. To wit:

Headline from The Daily Beast: "Bill Maher Drops the N-Word on ‘Real Time,’ Sen. Ben Sasse Laughs".

No, Sasse did not think Maher was a hoot for using the N-word. Indeed, Sasse's laughter and that of the audience was nervous and awkward as if to wonder if they heard what they actually heard. Would it have been better if Sasse told Maher to knock it off? Probably. But let's not pretend that Sasse actually thought Maher's use of the N-word was funny.

Symone Sanders, former press secretary to Bernie Sanders (no relation) tweeted, "BEN SASSE MADE THE FIELD COMMENT. Folks shouldn't let him off the hook either."

Now this is just plain stupid. Why does Sanders think Sasse should be on the hook? Sasse invited Maher to work in the fields because Nebraska, get ready to be shocked, has a lot of farmland. It was Maher who turned it into a racial matter.

Then there are the Trump supporters going after Sasse on Twitter:

Yes #NeverTrump idiot Ben Sasse should resign immediately for cowardice and supporting racism by just sitting there laughing wi/ Bill Maher.

Hi @GOP! Do you support Senator Sasse's comments about working in the fields?

EVERYONE LAUGHED Including Ben Sasse & the audienceSo they are ALL GUILTY of using the N-word#MAGA Bill Maher.

Interesting to see how Trump supporters are suddenly concerned with racism when their man publicly cast aspersions on a federal judge because of his parents' Mexican heritage. Sorry, I ain't buying it.

Of course, Trump supporters are lashing out because they hate Sasse because he spoke out against Trump and refused to buy in. This is what made me write in Sasse's name as my presidential candidate last November. 

The shame of all of this is that Sasse and Maher actually a reasonably intelligent conversation much of which focused on climate change and President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Maher's liberal audience was receptive to Sasse. Perhaps not to his politics, but to his humor and earnest manner in the public policy arena. But all of that will be for naught because of Maher's lapse of judgment and the effort to shift the blame onto Sasse. By discrediting Sasse one not only rids Trump of a potential primary opponent, but impedes the Republican Party from regaining its sanity. 

I suspect the next several days are going to be the biggest test of Sasse's character in his public life. If he somehow manages to overcome the white hot scrutiny of both the Left and Trump supporters then there is a future for him and perhaps a better future for this country.

Memo to Future Presidential Candidates: Stop Promising to Move U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem

Lost in the hoopla of President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, is his decision not to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.


Of course, this isn't a surprising development. If the Trump Administration cannot move itself to state The Western Wall is in Israel why would it move our embassy?


To be fair to Trump, Ted Cruz would have pulled this stunt too.


Indeed, Trump now joins the ranks of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush who promised to move the embassy to Jerusalem only to get cold feet.


I would like to make the following suggestion to future presidential candidates, be they Democrats, Republicans or otherwise.


Stop promising to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.


Oh, I think the embassy should be moved.


But it is nothing more than a promise they have no intention of keeping. It's just a platitude to get Jewish and/or pro-Israel voters.
Should any future presidential candidate make this promise, I will not believe them.


NRO's Jim Geraghty notes that Barack Obama never made such a promise. In a way this is a credit to Obama. Don't get me wrong. Obama behaved like a jerk towards Israel, especially to Netanyahu. But for Obama to have made such a promise would have been utterly disingenuous and I am glad he didn't go down that road. Obama is clear where he stood with Israel even if it was on the wrong side.


I realize politicians will make and break promises until the end of time. But going forward I would much rather have a presidential candidate not promise such a move and make it unexpectedly than the presidential candidate who promises it and knows he/she cannot deliver.

Thoughts on the NDP-Green Party Minority Government in British Columbia

Voters in British Columbia went to the polls on May 9th, but it was nearly three weeks before they learned who would form their next government.


The Liberal Party had been in power since 2001 and was Canada's longest standing provincial government. The Liberals would win the most seats in the B.C. legislature with 43, but this was not enough to ensure their fifth consecutive majority government. The NDP won 41 seats while the Green Party won three seats. Despite their three seats, in a parliamentary democracy, the Greens emerged as the power brokers and would determine if they would extend Liberal rule or go with the NDP.


It should be understood the B.C. Liberals have no formal relationship with the federal Liberals led by Prime Minister Trudeau. After the collapse of the Social Credit Party following the 1991 election which brought the NDP to power, the province's conservative vote coalesced around the Liberals. (The Tories haven't been a force in B.C. politics since The Great Depression.)


Given that the B.C. Liberals are more free enterprise oriented than their distant federal cousins in Ottawa, it is little surprise the Greens could find little common ground with them particularly where it concerned the Kinder-Morgan Pipeline expansion.


The B.C. Liberals didn't help matters when Christy Clark, who has been the province's Premier since 2011, didn't meet face to face with Green Party leader Andrew Weaver. NDP leader John Horgan met face to face with Weaver on a day to day basis.


The NDP-Green minority government isn't official. Clark has to reconvene the legislature and hold a vote of confidence in the government. But this is a formality and it is a question of how long Clark wishes to delay the inevitable.


It should be clear this isn't a coalition government. The Greens will not be getting cabinet posts. Instead, the NDP will make a few concessions to them in exchange for their support. This minority government is supposed to last for four years. The biggest challenge with the NDP-Green alliance is that the interests of organized labor and environmentalists clash as was the case with the practice of clear cutting in Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island, a controversy which plagued the NDP government of Mike Harcourt in the early 1990's. Could Kinder-Morgan or Site C reignite those tensions? If the NDP should decide to proceed with the construction of B.C. Hydro's Site C Dam construction project or flip-flops on Kinder-Morgan then B.C. voters would go to the polls early.


The Green Party is currently at its zenith not only in B.C. politics, but in Canadian politics at large. But this could be short-lived. Junior partners in minority governments have a way of getting shafted in the next election. If the NDP-Green minority proves popular, voters will likely reward the NDP with a majority leaving the Greens in the red. If it doesn't prove popular, voters would further marginalize the Greens.


This election is also a boost to the NDP which now controls not only Canada's two western most provinces, but two of its wealthiest. In 2015, the Alberta NDP shocked the world when it ended the Tories' 44-year stranglehold on power under the leadership of Rachel Notley. This could be short-lived as the NDP has been trailing both the Wildrose and the Tories in the polls. The only saving grace is that Alberta's conservative vote could be split allowing the NDP to come up the middle which has prompted talks of a merger between the two parties. Should that come to pass who would lead it? Wildrose leader Brian Jean or new Tory leader Jason Kenney? But for the time being, the B.C. and Alberta governments led by Horgan and Notley could become very powerful allies among themselves and with the Trudeau Liberals in Ottawa who probably won't be sorry to see the B.C. Liberals gone from power.

Why The Left Should Direct Its Anger Towards Obama, Not Trump Over The Paris Agreement Withdrawal

With the way The Left reacted to President Trump's announcement to withdraw from the Paris Agreement you would have thought children had just been killed at an Ariana Grande concert. The fact The Left is more troubled by U.S. withdrawal from a non-binding agreement than children being killed at a concert is quite telling.


The fact is no one died when Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement. Indeed, it doesn't mean the end of the Paris Agreement. Far from it. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is coordinating city and state governments, universities and business leaders to meet the targets set out in the Paris Agreement. If this is what they want to do then fine. Trump can't stop them. Honestly, private initiative is probably the better way to go where it concerns environmental protection.


Honestly, The Left should direct its anger at President Obama on this development. Obama saw fit not to persuade the Senate ratify it as a formal treaty. Had he done so, Trump could not have acted unilaterally. Of course, Obama's assumed that Hillary Clinton would succeed him. Well, we all know what happens when you assume.

If Trump Can Withdraw From The Paris Agreement Then Why Not The Iran Nuclear Deal?

I have a different take on President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement than most.


First, the left-wing alarmists are proclaiming that the sky is falling. But the Paris Agreement is strictly voluntary and without enforcement mechanisms. Why would environmentalists support it is beyond me. It is not a formal treaty.


Which brings me to my second point. The Iran nuclear deal is also not a formal treaty. The Senate did not ratify the Iran nuclear deal as such anymore than it did the Paris Agreement. Both of them are nothing more than non-binding executive agreements. So why did Trump jettison the Paris Agreement and not the Iran nuclear deal? After all, for all of the Paris Agreement's shortcomings, it would not result in the building of an arsenal of nuclear weapons.


Don't get me wrong. I don't oppose Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. I just think withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal is the greater priority of the two. The Trump Administration has criticized both the deal and the Iranian regime. But why is the Trump Administration content to criticize the deal and the regime when it can put an end to it tomorrow? Instead, it is content to review it. Which is basically a diplomatic way of saying it isn't going anywhere.


Like Trump himself, his policies have neither coherence or consistency. By not withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, the Trump Administration is risking Israel's existence, guaranteeing Iranian hegemony in the Middle East and its place as the world's number one sponsor of terrorism.

Thoughts on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at 50

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in North America (it was released in the UK on May 26, 1967). The LP has been reissued in both vinyl and CD formats including outtakes.


Sgt. Pepper is considered not only the greatest Beatles album ever made, it is often considered the greatest album ever made in the history of rock 'n roll. It is probably the most important album in the history of rock 'n roll as it marked the birth of the concept album. A concept not only in song, but in The Beatles adopting different personas and the iconic figures on the album cover. Until then, rock 'n roll records were viewed as a collection of singles.


But Sgt. Pepper is not my favorite Beatles' album. For me, it's Abbey Road with The White Album coming a close second. In February 2014, to mark the 50th anniversary of The Beatles coming to America, I wrote an article for The American Spectator listing my 50 favorite Beatles songs. Only two songs from Sgt. Pepper made the grade - "A Day in The Life" and "Lovely Rita". But musical favorites can be fungible and I suppose if I were to write the list again I might add "She's Leaving Home." Of course, when I don't hear a Beatles song for any length of time (and I haven't been cause you can't access most of their material on YouTube), I am reminded of just how good they were when I hear them again. This was the case yesterday when I listened to "Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds" on my phone. Ringo's drumming is quite good and their harmonies might very well be at their very finest.


That Sgt. Pepper is still listened to and discussed with such passion 50 years after its release tells us both of the greatness of The Beatles and of the mediocrity of popular music in the early 21st Century.

MLB Notes for May: Houston, We Have No Problem

The 2017 MLB season is a third of the way through. Some teams wanted to cry May Day while others didn't want the month to end.


First and foremost in this regard is the Houston Astros. After a 16-9 April, the Astros were an astounding 22-7 in May. They ended the month with seven straight wins and 9 wins in their last 10 games. The lineup of Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, Josh Reddick, George Springer and Carlos Beltran is a beast as are Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers at the top of the rotation. The Astros have an 11 game lead in the AL West over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim who are right at the .500 mark. The Angels are very much at a crossroads with two time AL MVP Mike Trout being out six to eight weeks with torn ligaments in his thumb. Angels fans can enjoy Albert Pujols pursuit of his 600th career home run, but might not have much else to look forward to in 2017. The Texas Rangers did have a 10 game winning streak during the month of May, but ended the month losing seven of their last 10 games and are 12 games back of their Lone Star state rivals. The Seattle Mariners are 13 games back, but did finish the month winning their last four games. Can they be the team which mounts a challenge against Houston? One wonders how much patience the Oakland A's will have with manager Bob Melvin. They haven't been the same since losing the AL Wild Card game to the Kansas City Royals in 2014.


While the Astros are dominating the AL West, the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins are tied for first in the AL Central. The Twins have a share of the top spot in the AL Central despite four straight losses (three of them at the hands of the Astros). The Indians have a share of the top spot despite a 13-14 May. The Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox went 13-16 and 11-18 in May, respectively. That would have spelled disaster in the AL West, but in the AL Central the Tigers and Chisox are only 3 and 3½ games back of the Twins and Indians. Even the Kansas City Royals have a shot. After ending a 7-16 April with 9 consecutive losses, the Royals went 15-14 in May are only 5½ games off the pace.


In the AL East, April ended with the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles tied for top spot. While the Yankees remained steady in May, the Orioles have fallen on hard times finishing the month losing eight of their last 10 games. While the O's are only 3½ games back of the Yankees, the Boston Red Sox have supplanted them winning 8 of their last 10 games. The month of June begins with the Orioles and Red Sox facing each other in a four game series. Their meetings in May were marred by hit batsmen, brawls and racial taunts by fans. Hopefully things will settle down. But will the Red Sox continue their momentum or will the Orioles regain their earlier form? Let's not overlook either the Tampa Bay Rays or the Toronto Blue Jays. The Rays managed to climb over the .500 mark with a 17-12 May and are only ½ game back of the Orioles. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays had the second best record in the AL in May going 18-10. They are still in the cellar in the AL East, but with the return of Troy Tulowitzki and Josh Donaldson in the lineup that might not last long. The Jays finished May winning 8 of their last 10 games and are only a game under the .500 mark.


Switching to the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers had the Senior Circuit's best record in May with a 19-9 mark winning 8 of their last 10 games. Good enough to take a ½ game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies in the NL West. By the looks of it all three teams will make the post-season. The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants are both 11½ games back of the Dodgers. But these teams appear to be going in opposite directions. The Padres have won four in a row and 7 of their last 10 games while the Giants have lost three in a row and 7 of their last 10 games.


The NL Central is another story altogether. The Milwaukee Brewers enjoy a 1½ game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals despite having lost 7 of their last 10 games. The Cardinals are in contention despite playing .500 ball in both April and May. The defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs ended May with six straight losses while dropping 7 of their last 10 games. But the Cubs can rebound as they are only 2½ games back of the Brewers. Ditto for the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates who are only 3½ and 4½ games off the pace, respectively. To put it into perspective if the Reds and Pirates were in the NL East they would be 9 and 10 games back of the Washington Nationals, respectively.


The Nats finished May winning 8 out of 10 games including a knockout by Bryce Harper in a brawl earlier this week with the San Francisco Giants in which Buster Posey declined to lace his gloves after Harper was plunked by a pitch from Giants reliever Hunter Strickland. Washington will miss Harper for three games because of the thrown helmet and fisticuffs, but they enjoy a 9½ game lead over the New York Mets in the NL East. Things are so frustrating at CitiField that even Mr. Met has flipped the bird. After all, the Mets are only a game ahead of the Atlanta Braves. Hardly a place they expected to be. The team that intrigues me is the Miami Marlins. Their 10-18 was the second worst in MLB during May, but the team finished the month with four straight wins and victories in 7 of their last 10 games. Could this be the beginning of the Marlins' coming of age story? I hope it is because I picked them to win the World Series this year. The only team that had a record worse than the Marlins in May was the Philadelphia Phillies who went 6-22. The Phillies have lost four in a row and 8 of their last 10 games and now own the worst record in MLB. This didn't stop the Phillies from extending manager Pete Mackanin's contract through next season.


Will the Astros and Nationals continue to dominate in June? Will all five AL East teams be over .500? Will any team take charge in the AL Central or NL Central? Will the NL West continue to be a three team race? I'll let you know on Canada Day.