Wednesday roundup

Clarence Thomas's concurring opinion in Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, the recent SCOTUS decision declining to review an Indiana statute prohibiting abortion on the basis of race, sex or disability, appears at First Things. He delves into the ugly truth about the relationship between abortion and eugenics.

Some parsing is required in the case of self-help guru Tony Robbins' fall from grace. The charges of sexual harassment? Definitely must be looked into. The use of the n-word in the 1980s? For cryin' out loud, his point was that the word could be defused of its charge.

Apropos yesterday's post about the VSG and North Korea, an insightful article today at New York Times / MSN by Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker on how the VSG is also undercutting Bolton on Iran:

Mr. Trump suggested that he did not share Mr. Bolton’s enthusiasm for trying to overthrow the government in Iran. “It has a chance to be a great country with the same leadership,” he said. “We’re not looking for regime change. I just want to make that clear. We’re looking for no nuclear weapons.”

Mr. Bolton did not address the matter afterward, and a spokesman declined to comment on Tuesday. Speculation arose when the national security adviser skipped the state dinner, although it was not clear why. But rather than fly home with the president, as an aide worried about his position might do, Mr. Bolton flew directly to the United Arab Emirates for meetings, a sign to his allies of the confidence he has in his relationship with Mr. Trump.

“Ambassador Bolton works for the president, and the president sets the policy,” said Fred Fleitz, the president of the Center for Security Policy who was Mr. Bolton’s chief of staff until last year. “Bolton has said for years: ‘Look, I work for the guy who won the election. He sets the policy.’ That’s always been his approach under any president he’s worked for.”

For his part, Mr. Bolton has privately expressed his own frustration with the president, according to several officials, viewing him as unwilling to push for more transformative changes in the Middle East. At the same time, his allies said he had been misunderstood, cast as favoring military action in Venezuela, for instance, when in fact they say he does not.

This is yet another example of how flaky the VSG's approach to foreign policy. You're not going to get "no nuclear weapons" with the current Iranian regime. It hates the West and has since 1979.

And ain't this a dandy development? China is sending strong signals that it could well weaponize the sale of rare earth minerals.