Trump Did OK Until He Talked About "Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement"

For the most part, President Trump was even keeled and bi-partisan in his address to a Joint Session of Congress.

But this is Donald Trump we're talking about and inevitably he was going revert to form.

President Trump called upon the Department of Homeland Security "to create an office to serve American victims". The organization is to be known as VOICE. That would be the Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement. Not how the organization makes no distinction between crimes committed by legal and illegal immigrants.

Later, President Trump turned the spotlight to Jemile Shaw, Sr. whose Jemile, Jr. was murdered by a gang member who was an illegal immigrant.

One cannot begin to imagine Shaw's pain. But would Shaw's pain be any less had his son been murdered by an American citizen? Would President Trump have invited him to attend his address had his son been murdered by a black teenager?

I have no objection to deporting illegal aliens who commit murder, rape and other violent crimes.Somehow I doubt a majority of illegal immigrants are violent criminals. But the way President Trump talks he would have you believe that illegal immigrants are synonymous with violent crime. All establishing an entity of "Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement" does is reinforce this notion.

Liberals No Longer See George W. Bush As The Devil Incarnate

When George W. Bush speaks, liberals react.

But when Bush defended freedom of the press in an interview with Matt Lauer, liberals reacted very differently than ever before.

Here's a sample from Twitter:

George Takei: "You know things are bad when George W. Bush starts sounding like a member of the Resistance."

Former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom: "I am typing these words: President George W. Bush is right. Freedom of the press is 'indispensable to democracy.'"

Glenn Greenwald: 2005: George W Bush is a pillaging, torturing war criminal who let a city drown.

2017: I may have disagreed with Bush but he was A Good Man™.

Jedd Legum, Editor ThinkProgress: "When did George W. Bush become a voice of reason?"

It wasn't so long ago that liberals routinely compared Bush to Hitler, said he lied about WMDs in Iraq or claimed he had advance knowledge of 9/11.

Perhaps all these years spent painting portraits in relative silence during the Obama Administration has softened feeling towards Bush. Perhaps liberals are learning how a real demagogue acts. Perhaps liberals are learning that George W. Bush was never the fascist, racist or Nazi they thought.

But there's a good chance liberals haven't learned anything. We'll know if they start praising President Trump when another Republican sits in the Oval Office.

Poor Warren Beatty & Faye Dunaway

I thought it nice touch to have Warren Beatty & Faye Dunaway announce the Best Picture award at the Oscars in honor of the 50th anniversary of Bonnie & Clyde. 

Both seemed unsteady with their words. Beatty took the longest time after opening the envelope & before giving it to Dunaway who announced that La La Land had won Best Picture. The crew of La La Land came up to accept the honor, but moments later one of the film's producers Jordan Horowitz took a look at the envelope and saw that Moonlight had actually won the honor, emphasized he was not joking and welcomed their crew to the stage.

I immediately thought of Steve Harvey and the Miss Universe debacle. But before I could tweet it, Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel invoked his name.

Beatty came back to stage and explained that he had opened the paper with Emma Stone winning Best Actress for La La Land. 

An embarrassed Kimmel said he would go back to his regular job and never come back again. I hope he's joking because he was pretty good.

But poor Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Most of the audience doesn't know about Bonnie & Clyde or Chinatown, Shampoo, Network or Reds. Beatty and Dunaway will forever be remembered for this flub which shouldn't overshadow their wonderful careers.

I have a feeling that the folks with La La Land would like to ambush Beatty & Dunaway in the same way they were ambushed as Bonnie & Clyde.

Joseph Wapner, R.I.P.

Judge Joseph Wapner, best known for presiding over the original version of The People's Court from 1981 to 1993, has died following a brief illness at the age of 97.

Before achieving fame, Wapner spent 20 years on the bench first as a municipal court judge and later a superior court judge in California. Prior to his legal career, Wapner served in the Pacific during WWII earning a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

The producers of The People's Court abruptly dumped Wapner in 1993. For the most part, Wapner remained out of the limelight although he did return to TV in the late 1990's for the short-lived Judge Wapner's Animal Court on Animal Planet. Wapner did return to The People's Court in 2009 in honor of his 90th birthday to preside over one last case.

Here's a sample of his judicial work.

Judge Wapner even presided over a dispute between Johnny Carson and David Letterman. They may have been the Kings of Late Night, but Wapner was the King of the Court. R.I.P.

Slate Needs to Wipe Itself Clean After Smearing Alan Colmes

Following Alan Colmes' death on Thursday, Isaac Chotiner of Slate penned what I would loosely call an obituary. Take a look at its title:

Alan Colmes, Buffoon and Patsy, Was Fox News’ Original Liberal Weakling

Sadly, it only got worse:

But while Colmes may not have been a genius, he wasn’t a complete moron either; in short, he was smart enough to know he was being used, and to take the money that his services demanded. If this is something less than morally reprehensible, it is still pretty gross. We can mourn that Alan Colmes won’t be around to watch the political era he, as an important cog in the Fox News machine, helped usher in; unfortunately, the rest of us have no choice.

Why? All because Colmes worked for Fox News? If Chotiner despised Colmes so much why didn't he challenge him when he was alive and could defend himself? Because Chotiner is a coward.

It has been nearly 72 hours since Chotiner posted the article. As of this writing, it is still up with the headline intact. The fact that Chotiner nor Slate do not have the decency to pull the article or say they went too far and apologize to Colmes' widow speaks volumes. Slate needs to wipe itself clean.

Bill Paxton, R.I.P.

On the eve of the Oscars, actor Bill Paxton has passed away after suffering a stroke following heart surgery. Paxton was 61.

Over the past three decades, Paxton has been a fixture in both movies and TV. Paxton appeared in films like The Terminator, Weird Science, Commando, Aliens, Navy SEALs, Boxing Helena, True Lies, Apollo 13, Twister, Titanic, A Simple Plan and Million Dollar Arm. In recent years, Paxton has appeared on TV starring in HBO's Big Love, The Hatfields and McCoys mini-series on The History Channel and in CBS' relaunch of Training Day earlier this year. Paxton received three Golden Glob nominations for Big Love and an Emmy nomination for The Hatfields and McCoys. His final film The Circle with Emma Stone and Tom Hanks is to be released in April. 

I did not know that at the age of 8 Paxton had watched President Kennedy speak in Dallas hours before he was assassinated. R.I.P.

The Trump Administration Has Some Explaining To Do Re: The Muhammad Ali, Jr. Incident

This incident involving Muhammad Ali, Jr. and his mother is really disturbing:

The son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali was detained for hours by immigration officials at a Florida airport, a family friend told the Courier-Journal.

Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, and his mother Khalilah Camacho-Ali, the second wife of Muhammad Ali, were arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Feb. 7 after returning from speaking at a Black History Month event in Montego Bay, Jamaica. They were pulled aside while going through customs because of their Arabic-sounding names, according to family friend and lawyer Chris Mancini.

Immigration officials let Camacho-Ali go after she showed them a photo of herself with her ex-husband, but her son did not have such a photo. Mancini said officials held and questioned Ali Jr. for nearly two hours, repeatedly asking him, "Where did you get your name from?" and "Are you Muslim?"

When Ali Jr. responded that yes, he is a Muslim, the officers kept questioning him about his religion and where he was born. Ali Jr. was born in Philadelphia in 1972 and holds a U.S. passport.

U.S. Customs & Border Protection will not comment on the incident, but they (and the Trump Administration) have some explaining to do.

Why was Muhammad Ali, Jr. asked about his religious affiliation?

Why was Muhammad Ali, Jr. subject to further questioning when he indicated he is Muslim?

This incident took place four days after a federal judge put President Trump's Muslim travel ban and two days before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judge's decision. What directives, if any, did the Department of Homeland Security issue to its officials concerning the travel ban? Did the White House issue any directives of its own?

Of course, Ali, Jr. was born and raised in the United States and the ban should not have applied to him. Why was his U.S. passport insufficient documentation for U.S. Customs & Border Protection?

At this point, no one has denied the story. Of course, it is possible new information may come to light which disputes what the Ali family has asserted. 

But assuming the story is true, I suspect the Trump Administration will say they were rogue agents and try to sweep things under the rug.

For their part, the Alis have threatened to take legal action. I hope they do and force the Trump Administration to come clean on their disgraceful treatment of the Ali family and other Muslims who have been questioned only because they are Muslim.