Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Monday, February 13, 2017

Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): On Our World & the latest dilemma re @POTUS Watch

Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner and Reince Priebus.



The White House Policy Director, Stephen Miller, went on the US Public Affairs Shows to discuss on-going policy matters--including the Immigration Matter and the on-going charge of Voter Fraud--and underscoring a view first noted by the Justice Department Counsel during proceedings before the 9th Circuit that the President's Actions were "non-reviewable" which was discussed at a +Morning Joe  Panel:



It is of note that the Executive Branch has been abiding by the Court's Decision--although the continued attack on the Judiciary is disturbing.   The ignorance of the basics of the Constitution of the United States is of profound concern.   +Joe Scarborough was right on when he noted that the comments were horrendous--and the idea of a President of the United States having unlimited power is not correct and must be of concern to all Justices of the US Supreme Court--as Judge Gorsuch is up for his confirmation.    Republicans are quiet.      

Beyond the policy challenges as we launch our weekly @POTUS launch, the business front is just as profound times.   The challenging times was  captured by the Fortune's Geoff Colvin which in our view captures the profound challenges being faced before us--as the new Treasury Secretary was confirmed and was sworn into office earlier today: 



Daily insights on leaders and leadership

Daily insights on leaders and leadershipDaily insights on leaders and leadership


FEBRUARY 13, 2017
“You know we have a treaty with Japan where if Japan is attacked, we have to use the full force and might of the United States. If we’re attacked, Japan doesn’t have to do anything. They can sit home and watch Sony television, OK?” Thus spoke Donald Trump witheringly just six months ago. But wait – on Friday he said, “We are committed to the security of Japan and all areas under its administrative control and to further strengthening our very crucial alliance,” adding later , after North Korea tested a ballistic missile, “The United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent.”
All politicians contradict themselves, but rarely as often, as starkly, or on such crucial issues as Trump does. A looming danger is that by doing so, he continues to undermine the pro-business stance he’s trying to maintain. Uncertainty paralyzes, and he risks paralyzing four of the most important players in the U.S. economy:
-The Fed. Vice chairman Stanley Fischer on Saturday cited “significant uncertainty” about Trump’s fiscal policy, which makes the Fed’s job harder. Reduced confidence about the Fed’s future actions spooks investors, executives, and consumers.
-Importers. Trump keeps threatening border taxes yet has said he dislikes the border-adjustment feature of House Speaker Paul Ryan’s proposed corporate tax overhaul, which might or might not (depending on which lobbyist you listen to) increase costs for importers. How can any executive make a confident decision about importing (or not) anything? That’s a giant issue right now for many major industries, such as autos.
-Companies that employ foreigners, especially if they’re Muslim or Mexican. That means every large business and quite a few small ones. It’s not that all employers oppose Trump’s executive orders on immigration, though many of them do. But the orders are vaguely written, subject to wide interpretation by officials and individual border agents, and in any case tied up in the courts for who knows how long with who knows what outcome. Some companies now refuse to send certain employees overseas, for fear they won’t be able to re-enter, and some foreigners refuse to travel to the U.S. As a result, the pace of business slows down.
-The health care sector. It’s arguably America’s largest industry, and many of its participants would be happy, in principle, to see Trump and Congress replace Obamacare. But with what? Trump has called for swift replacement but has no proposal, and Congressional Republicans can’t agree on one. A hospital trade group is already lobbying against Obamacare repeal. Everyone in the industry figures Obamacare in its present form is going, but no one has a clue what’s coming.
America needs a more pro-business Washington. And yes, uncertainty about future policy is eternal. But this is different; it’s uncertainty about fundamental plans for future policy. One result: less certainty, less confidence, less action. That’s bad for business.

View of the Week: A "Blast From the Past" On #Iran & The United States


Iran just celebrated another anniversary of the Revolution. This interesting retrospective of the Iran & United States captures what has happened since the Revolution as the World is witness to the evolving policy of The Trump Administration towards Iran. The history is critical as the World awaits the evolution in light of the recent sanctions announced: 


Sunday, February 12, 2017

Notations From the Grid (W-End Edition): Trevor Noah Speaks to Al Jazeera

Please enjoy this very perceptive interview Al Jazeera conducted with the host of the Daily Show in the United States, Trevor Noah on Donald Trump, South Africa and the World:

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Notations On Our World: Reflections On Iran......

Iran is in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration as noted by   President's Tweets:
Iran's Supreme Leader responded in kind as he faulted the Obama Administration for Syria and other challenges in the Middle East in the aftermath of President Trump's election. This is in addition to declarations by the US Secretary of Defense as he has had long-standing profound concerns about Iran--although he has also publicly come out publicly in support of the Nuclear Agreement.    President Rouhani, though, touted how this was a "win-win"--as there is still some caution being shown despite the occasional on-going broadsides by Ayatollah Khameini.

Our team decided to share a retrospective on Iran by introducing the World to the real Iran courtesy of the Iranian Student Association at Penn State University as we assessed some of the on-going internal challenges prompted by the death of Ex-President Rafsanjani: 








Iran is on the eve of celebrating 38 years of the Revolution.  The leading opposition figure, Former President Khatami, has called for a massive turnout echoing what President Rouhani and The Supreme Guide have said--as one other leading opposition figure, Mehdi Khazali, has called for a boycott of the marches.     This is as ne of the key milestones recently achieved was the first delivery of the new Airbus planes negotiated in the aftermath of the nuclear agreement.     This is as our team picked up this "blast from the Past" celebrating the first direct flight to the United States in 1974 which was celebrated with a commemorative postage Stamp at the time:  



Iran, though, lost a major founding figure of the Revolution earlier this year.    Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a Former Speaker of Parliament and President, died of an apparent heart failure and was given a State Funeral earlier this year.     The Supreme Guide issued a tribute to his old friend of 53-Years and revolutionary Comrade as he presided over his funeral:
 
 He was buried at Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran.   Our team found it very curious that he did not use the title of Ayatollah in his tribute. 

His widow posted this on the day after as he remembered her husband glancing at the empty chair remembering the ritual they had as she prepared his breakfast:


Image may contain: 1 person, sitting, table and indoor


What was "glossed over" was his record.    He was appointed Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces during the Iran-Iraq war and was directly responsible for prolonging the war that to this day Iran continues to suffer from.     He was also at the forefront of the elimination campaign against political opponents.    He also engineered the rise of Khameini after the death of Khomeini.    


One of the leading opposition figures, Hadi Khorsandi, issued  a retrospective in Farsi which was stinging indictment of the true legacy of Rafsanjani as depicted below published on Mr. Khorsandi's Facebook Page: 
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Image may contain: 4 people, text





Mr. Khorsandi wrote to remind the World that there are those mothers, wives and children whose images and grief will never be known as Rafsanjani was the key culprit of hundreds who had been killed during the height of his  Power.   Although Anyone's death is never to be celebrated--but the image on the left reflects some of the key opposition figures Rafsanjani had a hand in killing.    These key opposition figures--including the Kurdish Democratic Party head of Iran Dr. Gasmelou assassinated in Germany--wanted to make sure that Rafsanjani's crimes were not forgotten.  .  After his Presidency, he hardly left Iran because he was subjected to arrest--along with his Foreign Minister--who now serves as a key advisor to  the Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei.      Mr. Khorsandi himself was ordered to be assassinated by   Ayatollah Khomeini for his anit-regime activities 
 including the publication of the leading Persian Satire Publication Ashgar Agha. In a recent interview on the Farsi Service of Voice of America, he almost broke down as he noted that he felt ashamed because just because he was "almost assassinated", it was not worth discussing as he remembered the thousands of writers who had been killed during the height of Rafsanjani's Power.   The program revealed that one of the facilitators of the assassination plot against Mr. Khorsandi was a gentleman by the name of Mohammad Hashemi-now of the richest men in Iran and husband to Masoumeh Ebtekar--who serves as a Vice President in the Rouhani Government and heads the Environment Organization in Iran.  What is also interesting to note that both were part of the so-called Students that took over the US Embassy in Tehran in 1980.

In the later years, Rafsanjani was deemed a pragmatist and emerged as the head of the reformist faction in his later years.    Some would argue that this was out of necessity as he was effectively sidelined by Khameini.   What was fascinating, though, was that he personally was not arrested--although his children were constantly harassed and emerged as vocal supporters of the opposition.   One of his sons, Mehdi, is still in prison after having being convicted of graft and received a special dispensation to attend his father's funeral.    He was the chief patron of the so-called progressive faction within the regime--and this may prove problematic as Rouhani plans out his reelection.   

 He also was depicted as the modern era's "Amir Kabir".for his supposed reforms--although the legacy of the rise of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp began under his watch--and expanded under his successor Ahmadinejad.    For those who may not know who Amir Kabir is, he served as Chancellor under the Qajar King Nasser Din Shah and was ordered assassinated as he began a reform campaign that was derailed--although what he began ultimately resulted in the advent of Constitutional Monarchy during the reign of Mozafar Din Shah who succeeded Naser Din Shah.    Rafsanjani's actual record is a far cry from what Amir Kabir achieved during his brief tenure as Chancellor (Prime Minister).    

Some have suggested that Rafsanjani may have been murdered.   Our team has no way to collaborate this--although it has been discussed in various outlets--including the Farsi Service of the Voice of America.   As the Iranian Year is coming to an end,  the looming power struggle looms large as Rouhani is up for reelection and engaged in a major tussle with the head of Judiciary--with the battle over a successor to Khameini also part of the complicated equation.    One of the "dark horse" candidates emerging is a cleric by the name of Ebrahim Raissi:


Ebrahim Raisi

He was appointed by Khamenei to run the Astan Quds Razavi--one of the largest foundations in the Muslim World with estimated revenue of $ 150,000,000 dollars.   Over the last number of months, a number of key Revolutionary Guard Commanders had gone to see him.   He had risen through the Regime's National Security Establishment over the past 37 years.


As Raissi rises in prominence, the tussle between Rouhani and Larijani continues--mollified somewhat publicly at this time.    This tussle was depicted by the team at +Iran Wire recently which we view as a perfect illustration:  

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The dispute rose after the Judiciary Head, Sadeq Larijani, was implicated in a massive corruption scandal regarding the bail monies put up by those who were arrested.   Sadeq Larijani then came out forcefully asking for a full and complete accounting of expenses by the Presidency--after the scandal involving pays for Senior Government bureaucrats.   It seems to have subsided partly due to the emerging external challenges and the moves by Israel to resurrect an anti-Iran coalition in the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump.   

One of Rouhani's potential rivals is the Mayor Of Tehran who ran against him in 2012.    He is faced with a bit of a profound challenge on his own as he is dealing with the aftermath of the collapse of the Plasco Building in Tehran.   This was a building built in 1968 by one of the leading Jewish-Iranian business, Habib Elghanian who was one of the first victims of the Islamic Revolution.    The team at +Iran Wire depicted the manner in which the City of Tehran responded to this tragedy:  .    




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A number of firefighters lost their lives as a result of the collapse and hundreds of thousand turned out for their funeral.   What is critical to note that this building was owned by one of the foundations controlled by the Supreme Guide (Supreme Leader) and had been apparently cited numerous times by the Tehran City Government--but they had no power to enforce the citations.     It underscores the profound challenges faced by the Government as Iran gears up for reelection that also has the incumbent, Hassan Rouhani, facing his own challenges.   Some within the Guardian Council--charged with vetting the suitability of candidates for office--have said that even the incumbent President may be deemed unqualified.  

What is critical to note as Iran remembers 38 years of revolution:  What happens in Iran matters to the region and the World.   It will be fascinating to be witness to it all.















Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Notations On Our World (Wednesday Edition): On a Very Challenging Yet Exciting Week & a Plea for Inner Peace

It has been quite a week yet again.     We have been working away on a number of key initiatives assessing the following (and as we've been curating our Twitter Channel) as these key developments have ensued: 

These challenges have  left us "virtually breathless".      We chose to begin our mid-week by choosing this curated thoughts from +Jonathan Huie that our team found quite timely as we continue our mission to "work to change the conversation about our World":





We can never obtain peace in the outer world
until we make peace with ourselves.
- Dalai Lama

Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit.
Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever,
even if your whole world seems upset.
- Saint Francis de Sales

The world has always been in an uproar, and it always will be.
Choose Peace. Choose to live with Peace.
Choose to interact peacefully with everyone -
especially those whose instinct is not to be peaceful.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You may not seem able to change some outer circumstances
but you can start by changing your inner experience of life and yourself.
- Joy Page 




Notations On Our World (Special Late Evening Edition): On the Latest From Washington as Senator Warren is Cut Off

Donate to Elizabeth Warren for MA

Mitch McConnell, The US Senate Majority Leader, moved to silence the speech by Senator Elizabeth Warren as she spoke out against the nomination of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.    This is as she tried to read the Coretta Scott King letter into the permanent record of the US Senate.    Here is the full letter:  https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3259988-Scott-King-1986-Letter-and-Testimony-Signed.html#document/p1

We understand that BuzzFeed first reported the content of the letter that was never put into the record by Then-Chairman Senator Strom Thurmond.     As our team reviewed this, we could certainly understand why President Trump was so irate when the publication of the Intelligence dossier occured.   

Based on the "objection" by Senator McConnel, it is clear that Jeff Sessions in on his way to be Attorney General of the United States.   Whether he is able to be independent is another question at this stage.    For us, the situation in Israel is the perfect test case as the Israeli Attorney General has stood up to note that he would not defend what we view as  "Theft-Law" that has been passed which we will have further comments on here in another edition of Notations over the ensuing days.     The Israeli Attorney General has also allowed Police to investigate the Israeli Prime Minister over at least two corruption allegations.    This is also as the battle over the President's Travel Ban looms as we noted in a special edition of Notation earlier this evening.

Challenging Times....


Notations On Our World (Special Edition): On the Hearing re Travel Ban @ the 9th Circuit//17-35105 State of Washington v. Trump 3:00 PM 2/7



It has now begun--archive will be available later on this evening:

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/view_video.php?pk_vid=0000010884

This is as Vice President Pence is administering the Oath of Office to Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Notations On Our World: On President Trump's Pending Visit to the UK & Other Thoughts

It has been quite a 24 hours as the appeal of the travel ban continues.  The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled a hearing for later on this afternoon as the Immigrants scramble to return to the United States.    This is as a lot of uncertainty continues as epitomized by this story on the CBC.    As this controversy ensues,  The UK Prime Minister extended an invitation to the President of the United States to visit the United Kingdom.   The Speaker of the House of Commons came out in opposition to having the President address the House of Commons which was noted--and has caused controversy throughout the United Kingdom:


This is as The United Kingdom has begun the formal separation process from Europe through Brexit.  

As A New Week Dawns....

Super Bowl LI is now history.     Our team wanted to begin the new week with a few from our "Thought Archive" as we embark on a new week here in our Network:  


Sunday, February 5, 2017

Notations On Our World (Special #SB51 Edition): On the Virtual Prowl @ Super Bowl 51...

Our team broke its' sabbatical today as we note how New England has fought its' way back from a 20-Point deficit during Super Bowl 51 to tie the game with 32 seconds to go based on the latest from the NFL Website.    

The game has gone into overtime and New England just won the coin toss to start at Offense.  No matter what the outcome (and New England just won #SB51 34-28), both teams (and yes Lady Gaga) once again created history: 
  


(Image Source:  http://www.NFL.Com) 






Saturday, February 4, 2017

View of the Week (W-End Edition): On Running the US Government & Highlights from the Budget & Economic Outlook

As the Trump Administration enters its' third week, our team chose this from the Congressional Budget Office on the Highlights that is critical to understanding what is to be expected.   This is as this insightful analysis on how to run the Government--whether the Administration is listening to such advice is a different matter: 


On This Super Bowl 2017 W-End....

Our team thought this snapshot we just received from our friends at Pandora will add some excitement as we wish all a joyous Super Bowl Weekend:

Super Bowl 2017
Ready for the big game? We’ve got you covered with the perfect stations to pre-game to.
GameDay Halftime Flashback
GameDay Halftime Flashback
GameDay Rock
GameDay Rock
GameDay Rap and Hip Hop
GameDay Rap and Hip Hop
GameDay Comedy
GameDay Comedy
GameDay Country
GameDay Country
GameDay Bass Drops
GameDay Bass Drops

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Notations On Our World (Special Edition): On the Eve of Super Bowl LI & A Musical Interlude

Super Bowl LI logo.svg

It is Super Bowl Weekend here in the United States.     The Motto of the New England Patriots (who are facing the Atlanta Falcons) of "Do Your Job" was noted by the US Secretary of State as he reported to work at the State Department.     In that spirit, our team decided to feature this that was featured on the New England Patriot Website: 



As it is also the eve of the Week-End,  please enjoy this selection from Cold Play for our "Musical Interlude".    


Enjoy Super Bowl Weekend.





On The Prowl For the Evening.....

Today's paper
Our team is just receiving reports on President Trump  (and as noted by the Washington Post within the past hour) warning Israel that expanding settlement may hinder Middle East Peace.   Our view is that this may have been prompted by the meeting President Trump had with King Abdullah of Jordan at the National Prayer Breakfast earlier today.     It is a developing story and will be welcome in Arab Capitals--although it will be interesting to see how The Government of Israel will react to this.   




On the Virtual Prowl in Washington as Rex Tillerson Arrives at the State Department


It has been another interesting 24 hours as the Trump Administration put Iran on Notice, President Trump hung up on the Australian Prime Minister (and he noted for all not to "worry" about it at the National Prayer Breakfast--not withstanding The Australian Prime Minister denying that the President hung up on him.   With this background in mind, The new  US Secretary of State went to work:

View of the Week: On "Unicorns" & Smart Cities (Courtesy CB Insight)

We wanted to share two very interesting charts courtesy of the Team at CB Insight:


  • The first one is what is commonly referred to as "UNICORNS".   These are companies worth a Billion or More based on the monies they have raised and the Venture Capital Firms that back them: 


new date for unicorn hunters post
  • The chart below is on "Smart Cities" and who is a leading player in it which we look forward to focusing on:
featuresmartcity


Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Notations From the Grid (Special Edition): On the Latest From Washington re: @POTUS

It has been quite a 24 hours In Washington.   Rex Tillerson is now the new Secretary of State as the US Senate Finance Committee was quite busy:


The Washington Post, though, captured the Supreme Court nomination as it did and the aftermath of it: 



Supreme Court pick rewards Republicans for sticking with Trump, vindicates McConnell strategy
President Trump introduces Neil Gorsuch in the East Room at the White House last night. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)</p>
President Trump introduces Neil Gorsuch in the East Room at the White House last night. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

THE BIG IDEA: Last night was the first time since Donald Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015 that every Republican in the Senate was eager to talk about something he had just said or done.
For some of the GOP lawmakers who assembled at the White House to watch the president nominate Neil Gorsuch to replace the late Antonin Scalia, all of the exhausting questions they’ve endured about whether or not they agree with Trump on whatever the controversy of that day was seemed worth it.
A dozen days into his rocky start, Trump’s pick earned him goodwill from friend and foe alike in the conservative establishment.
Multiple academic studies of Gorsuch’s record on the 10th Circuit, using reliable political science measurements, suggest that he will rule to the right of John Roberts, Samuel Alito and even the late Scalia.
At just 49, Gorsuch would become the youngest Supreme Court justice since Clarence Thomas was confirmed in 1991. Just how young is he? He’d be the first ever member of the court to serve alongside a justice for whom he once clerked. Trump suggested during his speech that might be able to serve for 50 years.
Even Republicans who had been tipped off about the pick yesterday afternoon were privately worried that Trump would somehow spring a surprise on them. One senator only half-jokingly wondered whether the president might nominate his liberal sister, a judge on the Third Circuit.
As an indicator of just how reliably conservative he is, the National Rifle Association, the Family Research Council, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Koch political network and the head of the Federalist Society formally endorsed him within minutes of the announcement.
-- To a man, every GOP senator who has been publicly critical of Trump praised the pick:

Ted Cruz appeared on several TV shows from outside the White House to celebrate the news:

“I am pleased,” said John McCain. “Elections have consequences…”

“A guy who’s been a three-day drunk could figure out this guy is one of the most qualified people ever to be at the circuit level,” said Lindsey Graham. “If we blow up the Senate over a man like this, it really would be a shame.”
Maureen McCarthy Scalia, the widow of Antonin Scalia, touches the face of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at the White House last night. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)</p>
Maureen McCarthy Scalia, the widow of Antonin Scalia, touches the face of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at the White House last night. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

-- Besides Gorsuch himself, the biggest winner last night was Mitch McConnell. Engaging with the hypotheticals of counterfactual history is always fraught, but based on hundreds of conversations with voters across the country before and since the election, I believe it is possible that Trump would have lost had McConnell not kept Scalia’s seat open. The election was very narrowly decided, and many conservatives who live in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Detroit found Trump odious but rationalized voting for him because of the court.
With the benefit of hindsight, we can now say more firmly that Barack Obama blew it by picking Merrick Garland last year. The former president naively tried to make Republicans an offer they couldn’t refuse by picking a milquetoast, pro-business, moderate, middle-aged white guy who he thought they’d accept, rather than risk Hillary Clinton choosing someone far more progressive. Clinton, to her detriment, was always cagey and evasive about whether or not she’d re-nominate Garland. That helped Republicans defang the issue.
While Obama was playing checkers, McConnell was playing chess. Liberal groups couldn’t get their followers ginned up for someone as bland as Garland. Conservative groups – which tend to be more strategic and better financed than their counterparts – mobilized more effectively. In stark contrast to the Republican convention, where SCOTUS was a buzzword, no Democrat mentioned Garland during the Democratic National Convention.
McConnell’s move was risky. It might have backfired had Obama chosen a minority candidate from a swing state like Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, helping reactivate the coalition that allowed the former president to win in 2008 and 2012. On the other hand, if McConnell had acceded, Democrats would today have a 5-4 working majority.
To be sure, the Kentuckian has put another nail in the coffin of the antiquated notion that the Senate is the world’s greatest deliberative body. But while McConnell’s move was deleterious for the long-term health of the institution in which he has served for three decades, politically it was a master stroke.
By McConnell standards, the majority leader was giddy last night. He even stayed up to appear on Fox News live at 11 p.m. And then he took a victory lap this morning by calling into conservative talk radio shows.
Watch Trump's full speech announcing SCOTUS nominee
HOW TRUMP DECIDED:
-- He settled on Gorsuch after only one in-person interview at Trump Tower, at which he was joined by just one other person -- White House Counsel Don McGahn. From Politico’s Shane Goldmacher, Eliana Johnson and Josh Gerstein: “Top White House brass, including Mike Pence, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon also had their own interviews with the final four contenders. Internally, (Richard) Pryor had been seen as an early frontrunner in part because of [Jeff Sessions] … for whom Pryor once served as deputy attorney general in Alabama years ago. But Pryor — who once called Roe v. Wade ‘the worst abomination of constitutional law’ — encountered some surprising resistance among evangelical leaders, a group that advisers said Trump was determined to please from the start.”
-- The rollout had all the hallmarks of a Trumpian production — except for this: The secret held. From Philip Rucker: “In recent weeks, Trump began to settle on his choice, but did not make a final decision until Monday, when he called Gorsuch to notify him that he was the pick. From there, Trump’s aides set into motion a cloak-and-dagger plan they had orchestrated to bring Gorsuch to Washington without him being detected. All day Tuesday, speculation was rampant. … (Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania) had been spotted at a gas station in Pennsylvania, and CNN reported that he along with Gorsuch were being brought to Washington to add suspense … Then there were the Twitter accounts. Two similar accounts were created identifying both Hardiman and Gorsuch as Trump’s Supreme Court nominees, with links to White House websites. It seemed as if the White House social media team had been behind the accounts — again, to create suspense — but White House officials said that was not the case.” Still, the fact that the White House managed to stay mum is a notable achievement for an administration already becoming known for its leaks.
Meet Neil Gorsuch, Trump's pick for the Supreme Court
GET TO KNOW GORSUCH—
-- Irony alert: Trump’s campaign was largely animated by a desire to repudiate the elites (and he successfully cast Clinton as their avatar), but Trump used his announcement speech to emphasize Gorsuch’s elite bona fides. His attended an elite prep school in the D.C. suburbs before going to Columbia, Harvard Law and then Oxford. He was a Truman scholar who clerked for David Sentelle, Anthony Kennedy and Byron White. He spent 10 years at a prestigious D.C. firm and worked in George W. Bush’s Justice Department.
-- Gorsuch’s late mother, Anne Burford, was the head of the Environmental Protection Agency for 22 months under Ronald Reagan before resigning under a cloud of scandal in 1983 following a nasty fight with Congress. From Yahoo News: “Together with her fellow Westerner, James Watt — Reagan’s pick for secretary of the interior — she personified the ‘Sagebrush Rebellion’ of the 1970s and 1980s, an attempt by ranchers, farmers, miners and oil interests to overturn federal land-use and environmental regulations. She did her part, cutting her agency’s budget by 22 percent, curtailing research and enforcement activities and scaling back regulations on air and water pollution. … She even attempted to relax limits, imposed in the 1970s, on lead additives to gasoline, regulations that are credited now with preventing the poisoning of large numbers of children. A New York Times editorial in 1983 said she had taken one of the most effective government agencies and left it ‘reeking of cynicism, mismanagement and decay.’ In her 1986 book, ‘Are You Tough Enough?’ Ms. Burford called the episode her ‘expensive mid-life education.’” (Read The Post’s 2004 obituary of her here.)
-- Trump had options with blue-collar backgrounds. The runner-up for the job, Hardiman, drove a cab to put himself through law school and went to Notre Dame on a scholarship. Pryor, who was pushed by Sessions, even attended a state school (the University of Louisiana at Monroe). Vox notes that, with Gorsuch, six of the nine justice will have gone to Harvard.
Watch Neil Gorsuch's full speech after Trump nomination
-- “He is a proponent of originalism--meaning that judges should attempt to interpret the words of the Constitution as they were understood at the time they were written--and a textualist who considers only the words of the law being reviewed, not legislators’ intent or the consequences of the decision,” Robert Barnes writes. “Gorsuch’s opinions favoring the owners of Hobby Lobby craft stores and nonprofit religious group called Little Sisters of the Poor took the same sort of broad reading of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as the Supreme Court’s conservative majority. In Gorsuch’s words, the law ‘doesn’t just apply to protect popular religious beliefs: it does perhaps its most important work in protecting unpopular religious beliefs, vindicating this nation’s long-held aspiration to serve as a refuge of religious tolerance.’”
-- “Gorsuch is a favorite of legal conservatives because he has sharply questioned a three-decade-old legal precedent that many on the right believe has given too much power to the regulatory state,” Politico’s Josh Gerstein notes. “The landmark 1984 Supreme Court ruling involving the Chevron oil company held that courts should defer to federal agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous federal laws. In a ruling last August in an immigration case, Gorsuch questioned the wisdom of that doctrine, arguing that the meaning of the law is for judges to decide, not federal bureaucrats. ‘Where in all this does a court interpret the law and say what it is?’ Gorsuch asked in an extended digression on the subject. ‘When does a court independently decide what the statute means and whether it has or has not vested a legal right in a person? Where Chevron applies that job seems to have gone extinct.’”
Justice Anthony Kennedy attends the Annual Red Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington last October. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)</p>
Justice Anthony Kennedy attends the Annual Red Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington last October. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

THE KENNEDY FACTOR:
-- “Trump makes his pick, but it’s still Anthony Kennedy’s Supreme Court,” by Robert Barnes: “The question is how much longer he wants it. Kennedy, 80 and celebrating his 29th year on the court this month, will remain the pivotal member of the court no matter how the warfare between Republicans and Democrats plays out. On almost every big social issue, neither the court’s liberal, Democratic-appointed justices nor Kennedy’s fellow Republican-appointed conservative colleagues can prevail without him. That is why an undercurrent of Trump’s first choice for the court was whether it would soothe Kennedy, making him feel secure enough to retire and let this president choose the person who would succeed him. … Who better, then, to put Kennedy at ease than one of his former clerks? Kennedy trekked to Denver to swear in his protege Neil Gorsuch on the appeals court 10 years ago.
“Some say Kennedy would be reluctant to leave, too, if it meant a more conservative court that would reverse some of his landmark decisions, especially on gay rights. But others who know him suggest he is ready to go. ‘I would put it at 50-50 that he leaves at the end of the term,’ said another former clerk. Kennedy recently hired clerks for the term that begins in October, but that is seen more as insurance than intent. The gentlemanly Kennedy could not be more different from the combative Trump, and so some involved in filling the current Supreme Court opening kept the justice in mind during the process. … Pleasing Kennedy is wise but not dispositive, as lawyers at the court like to say.”
-- “Justice Kennedy has been silent about his plans, but it was widely noticed by his fellow justices and other court watchers last fall that he had not hired a full complement of clerks for the next term,” Peter Baker adds on the front page of the New York Times. “Some thought he was slowing down when he did not teach last summer in Salzburg, Austria, as he has for many years. Another sign was his decision to schedule his reunion of clerks, normally held every five years, one year early. But after Mr. Trump’s election, Justice Kennedy moved ahead with hiring clerks and authorized the court spokeswoman to issue a statement meant to dispute speculation that he might retire. The statement said that he had not gone to Salzburg because of conflicting family plans but would return there in 2017, and that the clerks had wanted to hold the reunion early to celebrate his 80th birthday.”
HE WILL BE THE NEW SCALIA:
-- A study led by Mercer University law professor Jeremy Kidd concluded that Gorsuch is the second-most similar to Scalia of the 21 prospective justices on the lists Trump released during the campaign. (Bloomberg)
-- SCOTUSblog, which is widely read by court insiders, calls the parallels between Gorsuch and Scalia “DOWNRIGHT EERIE”: “Like Scalia, Gorsuch also seems to have a set of judicial/ideological commitments apart from his personal policy preferences that drive his decision-making,” Eric Citron explains. “He is an ardent textualist (like Scalia); he believes criminal laws should be clear and interpreted in favor of defendants even if that hurts government prosecutions (like Scalia); he is skeptical of efforts to purge religious expression from public spaces (like Scalia); he is highly dubious of legislative history (like Scalia); and he is less than enamored of the dormant commerce clause (like Scalia). … The reasoning in Gorsuch’s 2008 concurrence in United States v. Hinckley, in which he argues that one possible reading of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act would probably violate the rarely invoked non-delegation principle, is exactly the same as that of Scalia’s 2012 dissent in Reynolds v. United States. The notable exception is one prominent concurrence last August, in Gutierrez-Brizuela v. Lynch, in which Gorsuch criticized a doctrine of administrative law (called Chevron deference) that Scalia had long defended. Even here, however, there may be more in common than meets the eye.”
As we went to press, we also got note of the Statement by the National Security Advisor on putting Iran on notice as we also got word that somehow CNN was "put on ice" to drive down ratings--and as AL Jazeera provided a "firing line perspective" on the plight of the refugees: