Friday roundup

New Marist poll finds a majority of American women want abortion restricted, don't want tax dollars funding it, think it's morally wrong, and think it hurts women in the long term.

In a stroke of great luck yesterday, I just happened to catch Theresa May's speech to the GOP lawmakers' summit in Philadelphia. It rocked. It was a full-throated affirmation of the special US-UK relationship and its role as the cornerstone of Western civilization's greatness. Let's dispense with the aspect the nitpickers will inevitably bring up: No, she didn't call for ripping up the Iran nuke "agreement," but that was hardly the venue for such a pronouncement, and she did say Iran was the chief cause of terror and strife in the Middle East, and she did call for very strict policing of Iran's actions. But on energy, the free market, standing up to Russia and China, and bedrock Western values, she turned in a start performance for her American debut.

Border Patrol chief Mark Morgan gets the pink slip.

The entire senior management of the State Department resigns. Questions surround the move:

[Washington Post reporter Josh] Rogin’s own reporting calls into question his claim that the departing officials didn’t want to stick around. Kennedy “was actively involved in the transition and was angling to keep [his] job under Tillerson,” according to three State Department officials with whom Rogin spoke. 

In fact, it may be that all four of these officials are leaving involuntarily. Two senior administration officials now say that the Trump administration told the four that their services were no longer needed. This, the two officials say, is part of an effort to “clean house” at Foggy Bottom.

In the case of Patrick Kennedy in particular, it is no great loss:

Kennedy was implicated in the Benghazi fiasco. He was also involved in the Clinton email scandal. Fox News reported that Kennedy proposed a “quid pro quo” to convince the FBI to strip the classification on an email from Hillary Clinton’s server and repeatedly tried to “influence” the bureau’s decision when his offer was denied. 

Just what is keeping Curt Schilling from his rightful place in the Baseball Hall of Fame? 


TransCanada has reapplied for a permit to bring its magnificent Keystone XL pipeline across the border.