Paul Zummo is one of the sanest men on the internet.

And because that is the most back-handed of compliments, let me re-phrase:

Paul is one of the smartest, most-grounded and sanest men around. Period.

Click on the above to read a polite defenestration of anti-anti-abortion sophistry.  

Last's morphing into a hack is nothing short of tragic. While I usually have little use for Friedrich Nietzsche, the age of Trump offers ample confirmation for the German philosopher's warning about fighting monsters and gazing into the abyss. 

Some of Trump's critics have revealed themselves to be mere mercenary grifters happy to mouth any political ad copy for pay.

Far worse are others who maimed their integrity. Last appears to be the latter, to my sorrow. I profited from reading him. What did I miss in his previous writing that could have signaled what he is doing now?

[And, yes, the same applies to those who have prostituted themselves to support Trump. But the principled anti-Trump Mr. Zummo isn't talking about that now. If you want some of that, go here. Speaking of which, I am about to throw up with the Catholic fawning over MTG. Get a grip. Your integrity needs it.]

 

Lather, rinse, repeat.

The Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal was a gruesome moral failure for Michigan State University and local law enforcement in Michigan.

And thanks to an Inspector General's report, now we know it was even worse at the FBI, with a head agent lying to cover his mismanagement and a money-grubbing conflict of interest.

[W. Jay] Abbott, the former chief of the Indianapolis field office, gave inaccurate information to the media to cover up his office's failures and made false statements to DOJ investigators during two interviews, according to the report. Abbott, who is now retired from the FBI, also exercised "extremely poor judgment" and violated the FBI's conflict-of-interest policies by discussing a possible job at the U.S. Olympic Committee with Penny while his office was investigating the Nassar allegations.

The consequences? When you're a Made Man in The House That J. Edgar Built, there are none.

The federal government declined to prosecute them last year, according to the report.

Equal* Justice Under Law.

The connected protect their own.

But, as Martha Stewart can tell you, don't you dare lie to them.

Can't have the gears of the criminal justice system deformed by falsehood! And prison is necessary to deter others from acting similarly, don't you know?

Some hate crimes are more equal than others.

[The alleged perpetrator] told detectives he stabbed the victim "because he didn't like the way he looked at him" and also said to an officer, "I stabbed that guy. If he dies, he dies. I don't give a f--k."

The victim, who was stabbed in the back, remains in the hospital in critical condition after losing one of his kidneys and his adrenal gland, and suffering damage to his liver.

Hate crime charges were not initially expected, but then the NYPD revealed that one of [Salman] Muflihi's previous arrests was for allegedly punching another Asian man.

That led police to believe the the attack may have been racially motivated, but the Manhattan District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute the stabbing as a hate crime.

You can read the whole sorry thing here. The prosecutor's excuse is that the "suspect" "may not have seen" his victim--despite the whole "didn't like the way he looked at him" part. 

Looks like "reasonable cause" to me, but I confess to not being versed in criminal procedure.

The fact that the current government of the City marinates in a worldview that looks askance at Asians as bearers of "white privilege" is nothing for the community to worry about. Just ordinary ol' prosecutorial discretion at work.

George Gascon: the Child-Murderer's Friend.

The newly-elected district attorney for Los Angeles County continues to impress.

Now, he has instructed his prosecutors to remove the sentencing enhancements for a murdering child molester. 

The DA for nearby Orange County has correctly deduced that that is morally reprehensible, and is wresting the case back from the anthropomorphic sack of offal next door.

And Gascon's policies have created some fascinating-but-predictable incentives for already-incarcerated violent felons, but I will leave that to the reader to discover.

Institutional Rot.

The most important revelation from the Jeffrey Epstein case document drop is not the names of the perverts who were serviced.

No, the most important revelation is how deferentially the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation managed the matter.

I say "managed" because that's what occurred: it was a matter of managing information flow, protecting important people and doing the bare minimum to secure a minimal result.

When you don't interview all of the victims, you won't learn about more perpetrators or potential networks.

Big sighs of relief there. As there no doubt were when the non-prosecution agreement was drafted--with the help of one very prominent co-conspirator. Contrary to law, of course.

The level of corruption here is a choking smog.

A nation of status, not laws.

A follow-up to the David Gregory empty gun magazine law violation discussed below:

1. 105 people were arrested in DC for violation of the same law in 2012.

2. Gregory's wife is a social friend of the DC Attorney General.

In the meantime, our national government is planning to impose more such laws on the citizenry.

The unconnected citizenry, that is.

The moral of the story.