Friday roundup

Why do the Russian hacking activities during the just-concluded US election cycle seem so focused on one party? The other party had a better email filter.

Important Megan McArdle column at Bloomberg arguing that the Trump transition teams's request to see records of any climate conferences Department of Energy staffers have attended is a bad move that needs to be backed away from, but that the Left is on very shaky ground getting incensed about it, given its harassment of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

This chick is going to be trouble:

Initially Ivanka was going to operate outside the administration, managing the family businesses with her brothers once Trump himself withdrew from them. Then it looked like she wouldn’t be on the business side after all but would join her father and husband in the new administration somewhere. That developed further with news that she’d be getting space in the East Wing that typically goes to the First Lady, supporting the theory that Ivanka will be taking on the public duties of FLOTUS more than Melania Trump will. And now here’s the IJ Review with news that Ivanka’s already out in front on legislation, dialing up congressional Republicans to lobby for legislation on one of her pet causes, creating tax incentives — and a new entitlement — related to child care.

In short, in the span of about six weeks, she’s gone from someone who wouldn’t be involved in government to maybe the most influential “First Lady” on policy matters since, er, Hillary Clinton. Come to think of it, they’re both liberals and they’re both from New York. Maybe someday Ivanka too will blaze a trail to the Senate and eventually to her party’s presidential nomination, only to lose the election to Kanye West or some other rich guy who thought it’d be fun to run and beat the political nerds at their own game.

Sarah Chamberlain, the president and CEO of the center-right organization Republican Main Street Partnership, told Independent Journal Review that Ivanka Trump has been calling Republican members of Congress since her father’s victory last month.

“She’s calling some to talk about the child care provisions,” Chamberlain said. “It’s gonna be a big issue for her.”…

“I think she’s hoping to [play a large role in the administration]. It did come out she’s gonna have an office in the East Wing and actually I think she’s gonna be a great addition. I think she was a huge help in getting her father elected.”

In case you’ve forgotten, Trump’s Ivanka-crafted child-care plan caused a ripple among the three conservatives left in the party when he announced it in September, as it guarantees six weeks of paid maternity leave for new mothers. Under the plan, if your employer won’t cover the cost of that, Uncle Sam will. The expense to taxpayers will, supposedly, be offset by eliminating fraud from the federal unemployment insurance program, but ridding programs of “waste, fraud, and abuse” is a classic lip-service panacea for new federal spending. Americans like the idea of paid family leave, though, even if they’re uncertain about exactly who should pay for it. With Trump pushing Republicans to get onboard with taxpayer funding and Democrats already sure to back a new entitlement, it’s a cinch that a majority will support letting the feds handle it before too long. If Trump can get the right to rethink Vladimir Putin, he can get them to rethink paid maternity leave. And we’ve already learned a lesson from the Carrier deal: If a policy is popular, whether or not it sets a bad precedent is of secondary concern.

On the other hand, this is another great appointment:

President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will nominate attorney David Friedman as U.S. ambassador to Israel, selecting an envoy who supports Israeli settlements and other changes to U.S. policies in the region. Friedman said he looked forward to carrying out his duties from "the U.S. embassy in Israel's eternal capital, Jerusalem," even though the embassy is in Tel Aviv.

Trump, like some of his predecessors, has vowed to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, a politically charged act that would anger Palestinians who want east Jerusalem as part of their sovereign territory. The move would also distance the U.S. from most of the international community, including its closest allies in Western Europe and the Arab world.

The president-elect said Friedman would "maintain the special relationship" between the U.S. and Israel.

But the announcement sparked anger from liberal Jewish groups. Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, called nominating Friedman "reckless," citing his support for settlements and his questioning of a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

The statement doesn't detail how Friedman could work in Jerusalem. However, Trump advisers have insisted in recent days that the president-elect will follow through on his call for moving the embassy.

"He has made that promise," Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told reporters Thursday. "I can guarantee you, just generally, he's a man who is going to accomplish many things very quickly." 

The gracious way to respond to Yasmin Seweid's hate-crime hoax would be to allow for the possibility that she is deeply troubled. Short of that, the only conclusion to draw is that it's pretty damn crummy to accuse a fictional group of guys of shouting Trump's name, telling her "You don't belong here" and pulling off her hijab.  Right up there with "hands up don't shoot" and the antics of mattress girl.