NRO:

I just learned that one of my oldest and dearest friends, Rich Nadler, died this morning at his home in Kansas City. Rich was many things: a high-school dropout, an autodidact, a traveling jazz musician, an ex-communist, the publisher of the late, great K.C. Jones, a hilarious movie reviewer, the head of the Missouri Taxpayers Watchdog Association, and a sometime contributor to National Review and, lately, the Corner. In the last years of his life he was, above all, a devout orthodox Jew and a devoted husband to Barbara.

He gave me my start in journalism and constantly encouraged me, even as we came to disagree on some matters. He was one of the most brilliant men I have ever known. Now there are a hundred things I won’t be able to talk or argue with him about. R.I.P.

From NRO:

“We are stunned at today’s news. As Christians we pray and look toward the end of all violence and for the saving of souls, not the taking of human life. George Tiller was a man who we publicly sought to stop through legal and peaceful means. We strongly condemn the actions taken today by this vigilante killer and we pray for the Tiller family and for the nation that we might once again be a nation that values all human, both born and unborn.”

From NRO:

NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE CONDEMNS THE KILLING

OF DR. GEORGE TILLER

WASHINGTON - The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the nation’s largest pro-life group, today condemned the killing of Dr. George Tiller.  The following statement may be attributed to NRLC Executive Director, David N. O’Steen, Ph.D.: (more…)

From Bottom Line Comm.:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 30, 2009
Mayor’s Statement on the City Clerk’s announcement regarding the recall petition:
Every day since I have been elected has been a challenge. Every issue I have tackled has had opponents. As I said in my State of the City Address, change is hard. My critics, the organizers of this effort, clearly do not like the status quo being challenged. But that is the reason I was elected to begin with. I plan to continue carrying out the agenda I laid out in the State of the City. (more…)

Source:

Nadler was the author of political biographies on Sen. Phil Gramm and commentator Pat Buchanan, and a contributor to such publications as the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, National Review, Policy Review, Insight Magazine, Education Reform News, and Human Life Review. In 2006, he co-edited the Daily Dispatch, a military blog reporting every weekday on the war in Iraq.
…
“Rich was always passionate about a side he took in any debate and well-prepared,” noted Kris Ketz, morning anchor on KMBC-TV9. “He was a good guy on and and off the set. Sad”
Nadler was the assistant B’al Koreh (Torah reader) at the Torah Learning Center of Overland Park, Kansas.

“Rich Nadler was a visionary always on the cutting edge of any subject he tackled. His knowledge was encyclopedic with an unsurpassed brilliance for extracting the last ounce of meaning from his carefully researched data.
“If there is a stereotype of the traditional Talmudic scholar, Rich epitomized its finest elements. I will miss him greatly.” — John Altevogt

John Nolte reviews the movie.

John Nolte:

1. Up - $20.5M Friday … $67M 3-day … $67M cume
2. Night at the Museum 2 - $7.5M Friday … $27M 3-day … $106.79M cume
3. Drag Me To Hell - $6.25M Friday … $16.5M 3-day … $16.5M cume
4. Terminator Salvation- $5M Friday … $16M 3-day … $90.5M cume
5. Star Trek - $3.7M Friday … $13.5M 3-day … $210.2M cume
6. Angels & Demons - $3.6M Friday … $12M 3-day … $105.56M cume
7. Dance Flick - $1.7M Friday … $5.2M 3-day … $19.54M cume

If these numbers hold, “Up” will open better than “Wall-E” and “Monsters and Aliens.”

Considering “Up” is fairly low concept and starring a 78 year-old man, this is beyond impressive. Word of mouth, rave reviews and the reservoir of goodwill Pixar’s built up over the years are making this a real audience-driven sensation.

As of Thursday “Terminator Salvation” is tracking almost to the dollar with “Terminator 3.” Figuring for inflation, this is a major disappointment, especially when Schwarzenegger’s last outing was considered an under-performer.

Rasmussen:

Most of us still think they’re out there.

Fifty-three percent (53%) of U.S. voters say it’s likely that intelligent life exists on other planets, including 28% who say it is Very Likely.
Thirty-five percent (35%) say it’s not very or not at all likely, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Twelve percent (12%) are not sure.

Politico:

Sonia Sotomayor may not have a long paper trail on hot button social issues, but in one area of the law-campaign finance-she has staked a position that could have far-reaching political consequences.

The clarity of her support for limits on campaign fundraising and her background as a pioneering campaign regulator is raising eyebrows among election law experts who say her record is more substantial and explicit than that of any Supreme Court nominee since the dawn of the modern, post-Watergate campaign finance regime.

NRO:

A commenter at the Weekly Standard Blog reminds us that the Democrats were very, very concerned about the association of John Roberts and Samuel Alito with that well-known extremist group, the Federalist Society.  So we know they’ll be equally interested in Judge Sotomayor’s past (and present?) association with La Raza, right?

An Email to Rich Lowry, at NRO:

First, Judge Valeriano Saucedo of the California courts, noted that, because of his experiences, he had a certain degree of understanding to Hispanic defendants, but “[t]hat does not mean that I apply a different standard of justice, because that is wrong.”

Speaking on the same panel, Judge Richard Paez (of the Ninth Circuit) was more emphatic, and emphasized that both juror and judge had a duty of impartiality.  Here are his extended remarks on the subject: (more…)

Sun-Sentinel:

TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge has thrown out Florida’s rules governing so-called electioneering groups, the shadowy political organizations known as “527s” on the national stage.

In striking Florida’s broad campaign-season reporting requirements, U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle said the state had placed an unconstitutional burden on nonprofit organizations that want to discuss candidates and issues on the ballot.

The Broward Coalition of Condominiums, Homeowners Associations and Community Organizations brought the lawsuit forward, after the group ran into the reporting law when it tried to print a newsletter including information on candidates and constitutional amendments last November.

WSJ:

Communication gadgets and other consumer electronics burn up 15% of all the electricity consumed in households around the world, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. If the use of electronics continues to spread at the current pace, their energy draw could double by 2022 and triple by 2030. At that point, they would absorb as much electricity as all houses in the U.S. and Japan today.

But are electric gadgets vampires or saviors? Telecommuters who would otherwise burn gasoline to get to work, or drivers who get to their destination quicker by using a GPS device are actually saving energy, argues the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. That’s a non-profit group sponsored by government agencies, utilities, and a variety of corporations.

From K-State:

News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu

K-STATE PRESIDENT JON WEFALD RECEIVES ARMY’S OUTSTANDING CIVILIAN SERVICE MEDAL

MANHATTAN — Officials from the U.S. Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth honored Kansas State University President Jon Wefald today with the Department of the Army’s Outstanding Civilian Service Medal. The medal recognizes those not employed by the Army for their noteworthy support. (more…)

Source:

Republican Jay Fleitman, a physician and first-time congressional candidate, faces prohibitive odds in his planned 2010 challenge to 11-term Democratic Rep. Richard E. Neal in Massachusetts’ 2nd District.

But by staging the first Republican challenge to Neal since 1996 — that’s seven elections ago — Fleitman is acting on the obvious political truism that you can’t beat somebody with nobody.

Human Events asks 10 questions.

Rasmussen:

Eighty-three percent (83%) of Americans say it’s likely there will still be a need for the U.S. Postal Service in 10 years, even as increasing numbers pay their bills and send personal letters via the Internet. Fifty-one percent (51%) say it is Very Likely there will be such a need.

Just 14% say it is not very likely or not at all likely that the Postal Service will be necessary a decade from now, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Democrats and pluralities of both Republicans (48%) and adults not affiliated with either party (45%) say Americans will still need the Postal Service in 10 years.

Those ages 30 to 64 are slightly less likely to agree than those older and younger.

….

Fifty-two percent (52%) of adults say they still pay most of their monthly bills by mail. Forty percent (40%) say they make the majority of their payments online.

Americans ages 30 to 49 already are slightly more likely to pay their bills online than to use “snail mail.” Well over half of those who earn more than $75,000 per year pay most of their bills via the Internet.

Pollster:

Public Policy Polling (D)
5/19-21/09; 798 registered voters, 3.5% margin of error
Mode: IVR

North Carolina

Obama Job Approval
51% Approve, 42% Disapprove (chart)

2010 Senate - General Election (all trends)
Sen. Richard Burr (R) 46, Elizabeth Edwards (D) 35
Burr 48, Walter Dalton (D) 29
Burr 44, Dan Blue (D) 33
Burr 47, Ricahrd Moore (D) 34
Burr 47, Bob Etheridge (D) 47
Burr 44, Heath Shuler (D) 28

Burr 42, Cal Cunningham (D) 34*

* Editor’s Note: This matchup is effectively an “informed vote” question, which followed biographical information from a previous question that stated “Cal Cunningham is a Democrat and former State Senator who fought in the General Assembly to invest in job training, education and protecting the environment. After September 11th, Cunningham joined the Army Reserves, twice volunteered for active duty and was awarded the Bronze Star for his efforts to have contractors in Iraq prosecuted for their crimes.” In February, Burr lead Cunningham 46% to 27% without providing biographical information on Cunningham.

Party ID
Democrat 47, Republican 32

Campaign Standard:

The latest news from the Florida GOP primary race: Mike Huckabee and Jeb Bush Jr. endorsed Marco Rubio yesterday, a nice gift to the former Florida state house speaker, who turns 38 today. Rubio had endorsed Huckabee back in December 2007, so it’s not a surprise that Huckabee decided to scratch Rubio’s back in return. While Jeb Bush’s Jr.’s endorsement isn’t the game-changer that his father could provide, it seems unlikely that Bush Jr. would have thrown his support behind Rubio without his father’s approval.

Meanwhile, Charlie Crist raised cigarette taxes and fees for motorists yesterday.

Campaign Standard:

It’s an honor just to be nominated, even if you’re nominating yourself:

“Let me throw this out: I’m the best writer of nonfiction prose in America today. I may be the only writer of nonfiction who’s even alive.”– Michael Wolff

USA Today:

Half of the men arrested in 10 U.S. cities test positive for some type of illegal drug, a federal study found.

Not only do the findings show “a clear link between drugs and crime,” they also highlight the need to provide drug treatment, says Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, which will make the data public Thursday.

Assessing offenders for drug and mental health problems and providing treatment is “important if you want to stop recidivism and recycling people through the system,” says Kerlikowske, who supports drug courts that offer court-ordered drug treatment.

“There’s an opportunity when someone is arrested to divert them to treatment if they need it,” says Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance Network, a group that supports legalizing marijuana and treating drug use as a public health issue. “But people shouldn’t have to get arrested to get treatment.”

Weekly Standard:

Remember when Barack Obama pledged he wouldn’t raise taxes on anyone who made under $250,000? Remember when the Tax Day Tea Parties were all a bunch of nonsense because Barack Obama had yet to raise anyone’s taxes? Perhaps the protesters were more prescient than they’re given credit for. (more…)

Charles Krauthammer in The Post:

Since the 2008 election, people have been asking what conservatism stands for. Well, if nothing else, it stands unequivocally against justice as empathy — and unequivocally for the principle of blind justice. (more…)

Politico:

A quick note to rising college seniors: Stick with the Kennedy quotes.

Among the innocuous quotes on Sonia Sotomayor’s yearbook page: “I am not a champion of lost causes, but of causes not yet won.”

The source: Norman Thomas, who ran for president six times on the Socialist Party ticket.

(Actually, Sotomayor, as a Princeton history student and politically active, probably knew the source better than most who pull it from Bartlett’s.)

Sarah Palin is on Twitter @AKGovSarahPalin.

Huckabee is on Twitter @GovMikeHuckabee.

HT Race42012.com

Club for Growth:

One of our members just pointed out that she was one of the founding members of the New York City Campaign Finance Board in 1988.

The Counsel to the Board’s Executive Director who is now a election law attorney wrote a blog post on the experience working with her, but it does not provide any insight about her views on the First Amendment and political speech.

It is, however, not a good sign.

Worse, is a very important new blog post from the Center for Competitive Politics reports that “in a case that was later reversed by the Supreme Court as Randall v. Sorrell, Judge Sotomayor voted to leave intact a ruling that not only upheld extremely low candidate contribution limits imposed by the State of Vermont, but also more than suggested that candidate expenditure limits might be constitutional, too, despite the First Amendment.”

It gets worse…

But what is even more troubling than Judge Sotomayor’s vote to leave such a speech-restrictive ruling intact, is that she apparently didn’t believe the case raised any constitutional question that was — in the words of the opinion she joined — “itself ‘exceptionally’ important.”

Redstate:

Hardin, Montana - a very small, very poor town with a very new, very empty jail, is willing to take on the responsibility of holding Gitmo detainees:

Hardin borrowed $27 million through bonds to build the Two Rivers Regional Correctional Facility in hopes of creating new employment opportunities. The jail was ready for prisoners two years ago, but has yet to house a single prisoner.

People here say politics in the capital of Helena has kept it empty. But the city council last month voted 5-0 to back a proposal to bring Gitmo detainees - some of the most hardened terrorists in the world - to the facility.

The Hill:

Pollster:

Gallup
5/26/09; 1,015 adults, 3% margin of error
Mode: Live Telephone Interviews

National

Generally speaking, how would you rate Obama’s choice of Sonia Sotomayor as a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court - as excellent, good, only fair, or poor?

47% Excellent/Good
33% Fair/Poor

Previous Supreme Court Picks:
Samuel Alito: 37% Excellent/Good, 39% Fair/Poor (11/05)
Harriet Miers: 44% Excellent/Good, 41% Fair/Poor (10/05)
John Roberts: 51% Excellent/Good, 34% Fair/Poor (7/05)

NRO:

Add this to the if Bush had done it file:

Obama was so excited about the announcement that he skipped right past the Framers of the Constitution to ancient Rome. Justices, he said, “are charged with the vital task of applying principles put to paper more than 20 centuries ago to some of the most difficult questions of our time.” (Technically, that would have been papyrus back then, unless Obama misread his teleprompter and meant to say “more than two centuries ago”).

TWS:

On April 16, Barack Obama released memos detailing harsh interrogation techniques employed by CIA officers. A former top CIA official told me that the move had “devastated morale” at the Agency. Then, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brazenly accused CIA officials of lying to her and misleading Congress, the Obama White House did nothing to defend the CIA against her evidence-free claims. (more…)

NRO:

The calipers are out and, lo and behold, conservatives are stupid according to the latest scientific research. Study here, skeptical commentary here.

I haven’t read the study yet, but my skepticism and disdain of these sorts of studies is well-established now.

CQ Politics:

But after winning in a district that gave Republican presidential nominee John McCain 62 percent of the vote, Minnick finds himself like many other conservative Democrats trying to strike a balance between governing and defending gains in Republican leaning-districts in 2010.

The 1st District, which encompasses the western half of the state including part of Boise, is a GOP target, but Minnick isn’t making it easy.

His tireless constituent outreach, low-key, non-ideological demeanor and centrist voting record has earned plaudits from traditionally Republican-leaning interest groups.

“People are very comfortable with him and his views,” said John Thompson, Idaho Farm Bureau Federation spokesman. “I think he’s doing what he knows he needs to do get re-elected.”

Meanwhile, one of the few GOP politicians who could have cleared the primary field, state Treasurer Ron Crane, decided earlier this month not to run. This could lead to a heated primary battle in a state known for its Republican infighting.

Pollster:

Siena Research Institute
5/18-21/09; 622 registered voters, 3.9% margin of error
Mode: Live Telephone Interviews

New York State

Favorable / Unfavorable
Pres. Obama (D): 72 / 23 (chart)
Gov. Paterson (D): 27 / 60 (chart)
Sen. Gillibrand (D): 33 / 21 (chart)
Sen. Schumer (D): 63 / 25

Job Approval
Gov. Paterson: 18% Excellent/Good, 81% Fair/Poor (chart)

2010 Governor - Democratic Primary
Cuomo 70, Paterson 19 (chart)

2010 Governor - Republican Primary
Giuliani 78, Faso 10

2010 Governor - General Election
Giuliani 59, Paterson 31 (chart)
Cuomo 53, Giuliani 41 (chart)
Faso 38, Paterson 37
Cuomo 65, Faso 16

2010 Senate - General Election
Gillibrand 48, King 26 (chart)
Gillibrand 43, Pataki 43 (chart)

Bloomberg:

May 28 (Bloomberg) — Time Warner Inc. will spin off the entire AOL Internet unit by the end of the year, reversing a failed $124 billion merger that triggered record losses.

AOL’s online advertising and Internet-access businesses will be separated into an independent, publicly traded company, New York-based Time Warner said today in a statement.

“A separation will be the best outcome for both Time Warner and AOL,” Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Bewkes said in the statement. “The separation will also provide both companies with greater operational and strategic flexibility.”

Bewkes is getting rid of AOL, which has confronted falling ad sales during the recession, to focus Time Warner on its film and cable-television businesses. AOL has dealt Time Warner a series of setbacks since the 2001 deal: shareholder lawsuits, a regulatory probe and declining sales. The parent company wasn’t able to sell or find a partner for the unit after talks last year with Google Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

WSJ:

A Dow Jones Newswires survey released Friday shows almost 30 analysts have substantially sliced their 2010 forecasts for both of the world’s main oil-price benchmarks and basically left their 2009 outlooks unchanged from last month.

Seeing a slower recovery in global economic growth-the euro zone reported a record contraction-and oil consumption than a month ago, the analysts on average cut their 2010 price forecasts for the U.S. benchmark, WTI, to $62 a barrel. That’s an 11% reduction from an average price of $70 a barrel projected just last month.

ABC:

HONOLULU — Officials saw an 83 percent drop in the number of voters participating in the Honolulu Neighborhood Board’s recent election that is the nation’s first all-digital election, where people could vote over the Internet or by phone.For the first time, Oahu voters had to use computers or the telephone to vote for their neighborhood board candidates and many people did not bother.About 7,300 people voted this year, compared to 44,000 people who voted in the last neighborhood board race in 2007.

At NRO.

NRO:

Very interesting new poll over there. The expenses scandal seems to have concentrated mostly on Conservative MPs over the past week or so, but David Cameron’s leadership in forcing out the more egregious members (although some less deserving of suspicion have also gone) seems to have contribued to a sustained 20% lead in this latest survey. Peter Roff earlier this week compared Cameron’s new approach to that of Grover Norquist, which is not as surprising as it sounds. His latest, excellent speech was heavily influenced by the thoughts of the aforementioned Messrs Carswell and Hannan, whose views strongly accord with many of this page. It seems that conservatism in the U.K. is at last going through an intellectual revival to match its revival in the polls, and that this is attractive as the genuine voice of reform over there.