Ken's Comments

A few thoughts here: 1. Donald Trump was right.  In the debate he said the President could have called in Apple and worked this out.   2. That fits in with this point - both the FBI and Apple made a mistake making this a public spectacle.  The FBI should have done this outside of Federal Court - perhaps in the FISA court or in some other way.  They should not have brought action in a way that the press could learn of this.  Similarly Apple should not have made this into the big deal it is.   If this could have been done as a one time arrangement without anyone knowing of it, all of Apple's concerns about this code leaking out and the privacy of others being at risk would be substantially mitigated. 3. Apple's legal position is not that strong.  The owner of the phone has consented to it being unlocked.  The Federal Government went to court and got a warrant based on a reasonable suspicion that the phone contains information on others who assisted in a mass murde

Further on the debate over whether the Republicans should consider a Supreme Court nominee submitted by President Obama to replace Justice Scalia. Seems that in 2006, then Senator Obama called on his colleagues in the Democrat majority to not consider appointees offered by President Bush.  A full 2 years prior to the end of President Bush's term in office. In 1988 and 1992, then Senator Joe Biden, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, killed many appointees offered by Presidents Reagan and Bush, respectively. http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tom-blumer/2016/02/27/washposts-thiessen-biden-blocked-federal-court-nominations-en-masse My position remains the same as before.  To have my respect, if an elected official takes a position for or against considering judicial nominees they need to remain consistent regardless of the party to which the President belongs. Personally, I don't favor a total ban on consideration of a nominee just because it is the President's la

Past quotes from Hillary Clinton have come forth that could demolish her support from the African-American community, assuming they get reported and assuming the African-American community cares (I'll blog on that another time). Her specific comments: "They are often the kinds of kids that are called 'super-predators,' " Hillary Clinton said then. "No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel." This came to the public's attention because a young African American woman brought it up at a $500 per person fundraiser Ms. Clinton was having.  She and a friend paid to get in, then put up a banner with part of that quote and asked Ms. Clinton to explain it.  The video is quite popular now. See the video and some really good contextual commentary by Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k4nmRZx9nc   The background - in 1996, Ms. Clinton

In the latest example of college students being denied the opportunity to hear Conservative views, Ben Shapiro tried to give a presentation on the campus of California State University - Los Angeles and was blocked by liberals, including representatives of Black Lives Matter. Stuart Varney's observation after playing some clips:  " There was a lot of pushing, shoving, screaming, yelling — racism from the left and bigotry from the left and neo-fascist tactics from the left ." http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/matthew-balan/2016/02/26/stuart-varney-spotlights-far-left-mob-disrupting-ben-shapiro-event At the same event, a female reporter was assaulted three times. Adelle Nazarian of Breitbart News was attacked by three different individuals attempting to keep her from recording what was going on outside the event. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/26/adelle-nazarian-breitbart-reporter-assaulted-three/ A search of the LA Times, the Washington Post, NY

This will be a problem for the Democrats throughout the primary process and it will become enormous if Hillary does not win the popular vote outright.  What I am talking about are the "Super Delegates" of the Democrat party.  These are party insiders who get to vote on the Democrat Presidential nominee without being selected by the voters during the primary process. Right now these delegates are going overwhelmingly to Hillary Clinton. Bernie Sanders is energizing a lot of new voters, calling for a Political Revolution, and railing against Washington and Wall Street.  How disenchanted will those voters be if Bernie Sanders loses because political insiders, not chosen by voters, give the nomination to Hillary Clinton? http://news.yahoo.com/despite-nh-loss-dem-insiders-boost-clintons-delegate-180158606--election.html#

The Daily Beast is hardly a conservative publication but here they uncover the story about how the Democrats "allow" the military to vote during their caucuses. The method used?  Military personnel have to find a private (i.e. non-government phone) and call long distance at their own cost to a specific number.  The individual military member must then stay on the line until the vote is cast, however long that may take, at which time they can vote over the phone.  They are not reimbursed for the cost of the call. Remember the Bush versus Gore election and the hubbub in Florida?  Democrats tried to get military votes excluded in the Florida election then also. What do the Democrats have against allowing the Military to vote? Isn't this the same party that was up in arms over simply requiring voters to show ID at the polls? http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/18/nevada-democrats-screw-military-voters.html Here are the specific instructions from one Cou

Republicans call for the next President to appoint the replacement for Justice Scalia.  Know why they want to do that?  Politics?  Nope.  They want a Conservative on the Court?  Nope. They said that because they are racists.  Yep.  That's the case being made now. Oppose President Obama on anything and the only reason you are doing so is because you are a racist. People wonder why President Obama could not find common ground with the Republicans.  Perhaps it is because there is no respect for the opinions expressed by Republicans.  If you believe every opposition is racist and not because there are valid reasons for disagreement then it is hard to find common ground. http://www.gopusa.com/?p=5848?omhide=true http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2016/02/hillary-clinton-implies-racism-to-blame-for-republicans-effort-to-block-obama-supreme-court-pick.html/

Senator McConnell says a Supreme Court nominee by President Obama won't be considered in the Senate.  Republican Presidential Candidates sing out in agreement.  Democrats and liberals whine loudly about this.  In response to that whining, a friend of mine sent me this link: http://www.politico.com/story/2007/07/schumer-to-fight-new-bush-high-court-picks-005146 In July 2007 - more than 18 months before President George W. Bush was to leave office, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on his colleagues in the newly elected Democrat Majority to refuse to approve any Supreme Court nominees offered by President Bush.  Note the timing - not an election year, 18 months before the President was to leave office. Note the hypocrisy. Now, let me put a different twist on this, since I claim to be a thoughtful, reasonable Conservative. 1. How many Republicans were in the Senate in 2007 when Sen. Schumer said this? 2. How many of those Senators disagreed with Sen. Schumer t

I don't have a philosophical argument against single payer health care, I have a practical one. I don't see it working in other countries and I have not seen Government health programs work in the US. England - They have National Health Service (NHS) that covers everything.  However, there is also a strong private care sector in England where people with sufficient money or health insurance can get care.   Canada - They have a version of national health coverage and for a while even banned the sale of health insurance.  Nevertheless, to avoid having to wait for services or to obtain better care, Canadians would travel to the U.S. for health care.  Also, someone challenged the law banning health insurance and their Courts overturned that so they now have a growing health insurance market place. Australia - They have a version of government health coverage where the local governments cover preventive service and the national government provides coverage of inpatient service

For the last 8 years we've heard about Conservatives are racist, terrorists, Nazis, fascists, warmongers, and a variety of other names.  In recent weeks the bigotry of the Left has been put on display. We've seen it in the past with references by media commentators like Ed Shultz and Bill Maher towards Conservative women like Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin.  Tea Partiers were called racists because of the actions of a few but did anyone call Occupy Wall Street people anti-semitic when there were signs at their protests about a world conspiracy of Jews?  Oh no. In recent weeks, the bigotry of the left has been on display again as their darling, Hillary Clinton is under fire.  First, it was Chris Matthews - who has spent years saying that anyone who does not agree with Barack Obama is a racist.  When Donald Trump announced he would not attend the last debate before the Iowa Caucuses, Matthews blurted out - who is going to watch "two Cuban guys."  To his credit he apolo

Well I was sort of right about the Republican Primary. Two of the Governors did well enough to move on, as I thought.  I was wrong about which one would come in last - thinking it would be Bush not Christie.  That's one I should have seen coming - Christie was a tough guy in the debates but really did not have a solid message.  I was not surprised by Gov. Kasich doing so well.  His name came up a lot when voters when media types were talking to voters. Cruz did drop - but not as far as I thought.  Rubio, on the other hand, did drop like a stone as I predicted. Sorry to see Carly Fiorina drop out of the primary.  I was hoping she'd stay a bit longer and see if getting a space on the main stage of the debate would help boost her numbers.  It was a crime that she was not allowed to the New Hampshire Republican Debate.  Glad to see Dr. Ben Carson is staying in and I hope he does well in South Carolina.  Apparently he's been working that State. On the Democrat side - wow

Wow by this time tomorrow, the Villanova Wildcats Men's Basketball team could be ranked #1 in the country for the first time ever in the School's history. That's remarkable for a University with such a storied basketball history. This team is hardly perfect but they are fun to watch.  Good kids who work hard, play defense, rebound, and share the ball on offense selflessly.  Their weakness is they are not hitting the three point shots as well as they should be for as open as they are and at times they forget to take the ball into the paint and be aggressive. Plus this is the second year in a row they have been in the top 10 throughout the season.  Jay Wright is building a program that is quietly becoming a regular national contender. It would be great to see them get that recognition.  They can win the Big East Regular Season and they could win the Conference Tournament again.  But to do that, they have to work hard continuously because they are not so talented they

Have to revise my predictions based on the debate that occurred Saturday night. Senator Marco Rubio's performance was a disaster.  I believe he's going to plummet.  Rather than a strong second, I think he'll be in the middle of the pack of the so-called "Establishment Candidates." I think Governors Kasich and Christie will rise up as a result.  I still think Sen. Ted Cruz will be lucky to get 3rd, but will more likely be 4th or 5th behind the Governors.  The incident with Dr. Ben Carson will haunt him.  I still think Gov. Jeb Bush does poorly. Donald Trump should win New Hampshire but the reality is if you add up the votes others will receive the non-Trump votes will far exceed the Trump votes. The only person who may leave the race after this is Carly Fiorina but that depends on her campaign funding and also whether she'll be allowed at future debates.  Her comments prior to the New Hampshire primary made perfect sense.  She has outlasted many others.

Feel the BERN! Bernie Sanders is a huge surprise.  A guy almost 80 years old from a tiny state dominating the youth vote.  He's going to win big in New Hampshire.  That will create a massive momentum shift in his direction.  I think he's in this til the Convention. Hillary is counting on the minority vote in the South but an interesting analysis by Dick Morris points out that while there are some Southern State primaries coming up there are also Northern State primaries coming up.  The potential votes in the near term North and South primaries balance each other out.  He feels the decision won't be made until March 15. The article is at http://www.dickmorris.com/no-firewall-for-clinton/#more-17238 Hillary has lots of cash.  But Bernie has money and has shown the ability to raise more.  That won't give her an advantage. Hillary has the party support behind her and in the end that is what I think will give her the nomination - assuming she is not indicted before

I'd substituted the words "Liberal" and "Progressive" for "Democratic" but I like this quote, it is so true: “I vote [Liberal/Progressive], because I’m pro-choice … except on schools, guns, trade, health care, energy, smoking, union membership, light bulbs, plastic bags, Walmart, what kinds of food you can eat. …” Think about it.  Liberals oppose school choice.  They want to take away guns.  They want single payer health coverage - no choice for you.  Energy - limit the choices available for power supply.  Smoking - don't let people do it.  Unions - you must belong, no right to work laws.  And the same is true for all the other items on the list. The quote is from an article dated Feb. 3, by Walt Williams on the Human Events site (humanevents.com).

The headlines are that Senator Ted Cruz won, Donald Trump came in second and Senator Marco Rubio third but let's look at why and what else happened that is significant. First, the why.  To begin with, Trump did not have quite the organization that Cruz did.  Winning a caucus process is not the same as winning an election.  Trump's personality got a lot of voters out but there are nuances to getting enough and winning in the caucus.  Also, I do believe some of the last minute dirty tricks by the Cruz campaign had an effect.  I think the letter from Cruz kept a few people home who were probably Trump supporters and passing on the incorrect information about Dr. Ben Carson resulted in Cruz picking up some of Carson's supporters. Some things that need to be recognized.  \Cruz's margin was not that big.  He was sagging in the polls.  Not quite enough to lose but close. Where people felt Trump skipping the Iowa debate was a mistake, I think it cost Cruz and helped Rubio m