Pun Salad

¹⁸ The words of the reckless pierce like swords,
    but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

I have to say that the Proverbialist really should have made the reckless tongues pierce like swords. That would have been a gripping mental image.

President Trump shocked the nation Monday by announcing via Twitter: “I have the absolute right to PARDON myself.” Many of his liberal critics deny he holds this power. But their disdain has led to faulty constitutional analysis. I share the view that any decision by Mr. Trump to pardon himself would spur a political disaster of, well, Trumpian proportions. But that is precisely the point. The powerful check public opinion places on the president reduces the need to conjure a prohibition of self-pardons from the text of the Constitution.

Epstein argues that the check on presidential self-pardons is public opinion. And also that Congressional "abuse of the impeachment power would pose a far greater risk to our constitutional order than any misuse of the pardon power."

When the Constitution was written, there were only three federal crimes: piracy, counterfeiting, and treason. In that context, the pardon power was an important tool of statecraft. Pardoning is an act of forgiveness, and one can imagine presidential magnanimity might foster social peace in a young nation full of revolutionary hotheads. The first presidential pardon, issued by George Washington, forgave two men of treason during the Whiskey Rebellion.

Here’s my dilemma (and I cringe to write these words): The Founding Fathers never imagined that the federal government would grow into the behemoth it is today. For good reasons and bad, we’ve set up a vast national legal apparatus with sweeping police powers. The government cannot even give a definitive answer to the question of how many federal crimes there are today. (Recent estimates range from 3,600 to 4,500.)

Another good argument, which will be ignored by everyone.

A good indicator of why climate change as an issue is over can be found early in the text of the Paris Agreement. The “nonbinding” pact declares that climate action must include concern for “gender equality, empowerment of women, and intergenerational equity” as well as “the importance for some of the concept of ‘climate justice.’ ” Another is Sarah Myhre’s address at the most recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union, in which she proclaimed that climate change cannot fully be addressed without also grappling with the misogyny and social injustice that have perpetuated the problem for decades.

Yes, so much for "science has spoken". The scientists have long since given way to the progressive ideologues, who see "climate change" as a scare-mongering excuse to get the political goodies they wanted all along.

Bonus quote from Instapundit:

Well, as I’ve pointed out repeatedly, it also became blindingly obvious that the people who kept telling us it was a crisis weren’t acting like a crisis. They kept their big houses, SUVs full of bodyguards, and private jets. They’re like fervent abolitionists who never got around to freeing their own slaves.

"Indeed."

[…] I should at least point out that I do not consider myself a “Never Trumper” anymore, having abandoned that label once he was elected. Ben Shapiro classifies me — and himself — as a “Sometimes Trumper” in order to distinguish between the “Never Trumpers,” who oppose Trump in every instance, and what might be called “Always Trumpers,” who do the opposite. I prefer the term “Trump Skeptic” because these other terms are too suggestive of a cult of personality. When I agree with Trump or support his policies, I do not change my opinion about the man himself. And since we’re talking about Tail Gunner Joe, let me use him to illustrate the point: Joseph McCarthy was right that Communism was a dangerous threat, but that didn’t change the fact he was a bullying demagogue.

Is it true, by the way, that Trump's Secret Service code name is "Loose Cannon"?

Mister, we could use a man like Ronald Reagan again…

We must address the pay disparity women face in every field – that includes professional sports. https://t.co/1WrPhGLCeg

— Sen. Maggie Hassan (@SenatorHassan) June 6, 2018

I can't even imagine what Senator Maggie has in mind for legislation here, but it's impressive that her first knee-jerk instinct is to push people around to get the arbitrary desired outcome she wants.

My response tweet, which will be ignored:

You are clearly wasting your talents as a senator, when it's obvious your real expertise is elsewhere. Please resign, buy a WNBA team, and pay your players the average NBA salary.

— Paul Sand (@punsalad) June 7, 2018

Via some Googling: average NBA salary is $6.2 million (2016-17 season). The average WBNA salary seems to be around $75K. Exercise for the reader: how long before WNBA mogul/business mastermind Maggie Hassan goes bankrupt?