Metronews

With consumer confidence at a 17-year high and economic prospects looking relatively strong, congressional Democrats have taken to grousing about the gas pump as a midterm strategy. “These higher oil prices are translating directly to soaring gas prices,” declared Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, “something we know disproportionately hurts middle- and lower-income people.” If this is true, then why have Democrats spent the past two decades advocating for policies that artificially spike fossil fuel prices? If higher energy costs hurt Americans — and thank you, senator, for conceding this point — why have liberals favored increasing gas taxes, inhibiting exploration for fossil fuels (including, in a number of places, banning fracking for less environmentally damaging gas) and capping imports? If higher gas prices disproportionately impact the working class and poor, then why do Democrats push for national schemes designed to create false demand through a fabricated marketplace?...

SUBSCRIBE TO THE FEDERALIST RADIO HOUR HERE. On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, Ben Domenech talks to Erik Wolpaw, a video game writer who previously worked at Valve as a writer on the games “Portal” and “Half-Life 2.” Wolpaw and Domenech discuss the creative process of making video games, from the scripts and voice acting to the puzzles and gameplay. Listen here:

During a foul-mouthed, seven-minute rant about immigration policies on Wednesday night, Samantha Bee told Ivanka Trump to wear a skimpy outfit to get her dad to listen to her. At about the 6:50-minute mark of the video embedded below, a photo of Ivanka nuzzling one of her children flashed onscreen during the tail end of Bee’s opening monologue for her show “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee.” The comedienne then cursed Ivanka out for not altering federal immigration policies to Bee’s liking. “You know, Ivanka, that’s a beautiful photo of you and your child, but let me say, one mother to another, do something about your dad’s immigration practices, you feckless c-nt!” Bee exclaimed. “He listens to you!” She then urged the first daughter to put on a skimpy outfit to get her father’s attention. Yes, this is a self-described feminist telling another woman to initiate incestuous behavior in order to accomplish another woman’s bidding. “Put on something tight and low and tell your father t...

Roseanne Barr has been fired, causing ABC to cancel the rebooted version of her self-named TV show, “Roseanne,” because of a tweet with arguably racist implications. The whole debacle is a microcosm of the way we live now, and in ways that are not comforting for either side. Sure, it’s a warning about the hair triggers of the left and their arrogant contempt for anyone associated with Trump voters. On the other hand, it’s a warning to the right about the price they might end up paying for Trumpism. Barr’s actual tweet was somewhat ambiguous. In the semi-literate style of social media, she wrote: “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” The initials “vj” are short for Valerie Jarrett, Barack Obama’s former White House factotum, who is black and was born to American parents in Iran. This has raised suspicions that she is some kind of Muslim sleeper agent, among those who are inclined to believe the same thing about her boss. Technically, I should point out that the ...

After more than one year investigating claims of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, Robert Mueller’s special counsel team has exposed exactly zero evidence of misconduct involving the president in the run-up to the 2016 election. This absence of proof has prompted calls for an end to the special counsel investigation. What should be garnering our attention, though, is not that there is no indication of collusion, but that there is evidence Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s appointment of a special counsel violated the Constitution, federal regulations, and his authority as acting attorney general. Let’s take these problems in reverse order. Rosenstein Overreached His Authority Big Time On March 2, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a statement announcing his recusal “from any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the United States.” Sessions’ recusal elevated Rosenstein to acting attorney...

Mental illness diagnoses  have been increasing in the United States ever since big-money drugs for them were developed then taxpayer-funded through health welfare programs starting in the 1960s. Taxpayers now pay for the majority of U.S. mental health services, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Concurrently, colleges have for several years been reporting spikes in mental health problems among students, and the Wall Street Journal reports some new numbers: As many as one in four students at some elite U.S. colleges are now classified as disabled, largely because of mental-health issues such as depression or anxiety, entitling them to a widening array of special accommodations like longer time to take exams… Small, private schools have the greatest concentration of students with disabilities. Among the 100 four-year, not-for-profit colleges with the highest percentage of disabled students, 93 are private, according to a WSJ analysis of federal data. Public schools...

One tweet can ruin your life. Just ask Roseanne Barr, whose racist tweet attacking former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett led to ABC canceling her hit show “Roseanne.” Part of the reason why there was so much hype ahead of the reboot was because it was revealed that Roseanne’s character, like herself in real life, was a Trump supporter. After three years of constant Trump-bashing from Hollywood, the people who voted for the current president would no longer be aliened or marginalized on TV. They’d finally have some representation. That obviously was a factor in the over 27 million people that tuned into the premiere, proving there is a huge market for a pro-Trump sitcom. Roseanne almost became the talk of Hollywood because of her outspoken support of Trump. But she was never a conservative. It was only six years ago that she ran for president in the Green Party, a party that is becoming more and more indistinguishable with the modern Democratic platform. Her economic views align mo...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said President Trump’s immigration proposal to build a border wall in exchange for amnesty for younger foreigners was a campaign “to make America white again.” It made a great sound-bite. “Professing to believe something you don’t believe” is a critical element of political gamesmanship. Yet Pelosi shamelessly offered not one word of analysis or argument about the proposal itself. She made an allegation instead of an argument. An accusation of racism evidently obviates the need to debate the actual proposal. This sort of thing permeates the ongoing discussions to legalize residency and more for the millions of illegal aliens currently inside the United States, now taking form inside yet another attempted legislative deal. Activists believe that legal status and a path to citizenship for 1.8 million proposed beneficiaries is an inadequate, if not cruel, remedy. But why should these proposed beneficiaries receive preference over those currently enroll...

Major spoilers included. After six seasons, fan favorite spy series “The Americans” came to a close last night. Whenever a beloved, highly acclaimed series ends, pressure on the creators for a strong finale is high. This episode, aptly titled “Start,” was almost as good as it gets. There were no major deaths, no huge plot twists, but instead a gut-wrenching dismantling of a family who, despite their flaws, were deeply devoted to each other. The conclusion of the final season explored the ever-complicated relationships between the Jennings and the life they were no longer able to live. They may have been Soviet spies and ruthless killers, but they were also parents who loved their children, and good friends and employers. Through all six seasons, showrunner Joe Weisburg, a former CIA operative, has delivered riveting, textured, and beautifully written television. At times scary, thrilling, heart-breaking, and cringe-worthy, “The Americans” delivered one of the best-crafted sagas in t...

Roseanne Barr created a firestorm on Tuesday with a series of inappropriate tweets that led to the cancellation of her sitcom and a condemnation from Disney CEO Bob Iger who said , “There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing.” The reboot of “Roseanne” sparked controversy from the first episode this year, because it portrayed her as a Trump supporter. Todd VanDerWerff wrote in Vox : “If the new Roseanne is thinking about how discussing politics has fractured relationships in these 2010s, it’s a dark twist that fans will now have to ask themselves whether Barr’s politics will dampen their love for the show.” In other words, in order for people to truly be able to enjoy “Roseanne” as a sitcom, they have to be able to suppress their dislike of her personal views. ABC seems to have decided her politics did indeed justify cancelling her show. Most people have a hard time creating this separation even without a lead actress like Roseanne entering the picture...

Netflix has released the second season of its original series, “13 Reasons Why,” which addresses teenage suicide and bullying in a high school setting. Netflix also released the rom-com “The Kissing Booth” this month, which follows the story of Elle, a teenager with no boy experience, who ends up in a secret relationship with her best friend’s older brother (who also happens to be her long-time crush). Although wildly different in terms of content and genre, both releases should cause alarm bells to sound. Both depict teen struggles and issues related to sex, bullying, and puberty in an overly dramatic and potentially harmful manner to anyone who watches them, but especially those in the high school audience the shows are geared toward. Netflix is the number one streaming service among millennials in the U.S., and a recent study shows that 89 percent of millenials watch the majority of their TV on Netflix. With the dawn of their release of original shows and movies, Netflix...

“Hard Knock Wife” is a raucous, hilarious good time. In this new Netflix special, comedian Ali Wong struts on stage for 55 minutes while pregnant with her second child, weaving together hilarious tales of marriage and motherhood. “Hard Knock” is Wong’s follow-up special to her massive 2015 hit, “Baby Cobra.” Similar to her style in “Cobra,” but with two years of parenthood in her rearview mirror, Wong finds her groove in telling stories that exploit the worst and grossest parts of pregnancy and being a new mom. She has found an incredible way to weave her entire performance together, and extract the biggest laughs by linking jokes throughout the show. Relatively unknown until the release of “Baby Cobra,” Wong has catapulted into fame over the last two years. She is most decidedly not appropriate for all audiences, but her sometimes cringe-worthy stories have a way of landing with her audience in a deeply personal way. At once self-deprecating and mystifyingly confident in an animal ...

If one theme can describe the early seasons of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” it is the struggle for everyone—individuals and polities—to find their place in the new order that followed the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor. The DS9 first season’s third episode, “Past Prologue,” highlights that theme in several ways while introducing someone who will become one of the show’s most interesting and beloved characters. The main action begins with the arrival of a small Bajoran vessel, pursued closely by a Cardassian warship. O’Brien manages to transport the craft’s pilot to the station just before the Cardassians blow it to pieces, and he requests asylum there. The man is Tahna Los (Jeffrey Nordling), a Bajoran and an old friend of Kira’s from her days in the resistance. The Cardassians insist Tahna is a member of a group called Kohn-Ma who are still dedicated to fighting the Cardassians and anyone else they believe imperils Bajor’s independence. As these negotiations move forward, Bashir...

“Personality” is the key to gaining a handle on who Kanye West is and why he operates the way he does. This extends to his controversial affinity for Donald Trump. When Kanye used the nebulous phrase “dragon energy” to sum up the overlapping qualities between himself and the president, what I heard was a quasi-euphemism for certain personality tics that he holds in high regard contrary to the mores of polite society. Kanye revels in being a loud, erratic, disruptive self-promoter who pushes the envelope and upends expectations and does a lot of things just to burnish his status as an Individual. In other words, he’s not to be trusted with your sacredly-held worldview. He sees the same in Trump. He sees a president who doesn’t abide by the normal rules of Washington and is totally unlike his predecessors — someone in the seat of power but still out of place. That’s right in Kanye’s sweet spot. After all, he made his name as the pink polo-wearing ex-Gap employee/college dropout of the...

As the NBA finals begin, basketball fans await the fourth straight championship matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. But in televising the finals, the ESPN broadcasting trio of announcer Mike Breen and color commentators Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy will offer entertainment of their own. Known for their colorful asides, the trio’s banter can—and often does—make blowout games as amusing, if not as compelling, as last-second nailbiters. Crazy Uncle or Amateur Comedy Team? Although technically not anchoring the announcing team, Van Gundy serves as the centerpiece of the broadcast action. A former head coach for the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets, Van Gundy’s greatest moment of NBA “fame” came when he clug to the leg of Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning during a fight on the floor of Madison Square Garden in New York: To say that Jeff Van Gundy has no filter in the broadcast booth would imply that he ever has one—a dubious proposition. While Van ...

Last week, I wrote about how those of us on the right can be Star Trek fans despite its supposedly “progressive” politics. Partly, this is because good art is about a lot more than a didactic political message. But it also struck me how much of the message of Star Trek is consistent with the values of many of us on the right. The original series was not “progressive” but “liberal” in an old-fashioned sense, celebrating freedom and individualism and opposing censorship and conformity. This means that Trek also turned out some cautionary tales that are relevant today — and surprisingly prescient — about the conformist agenda of big tech companies like Google. In contrast to those who claim that Star Trek’s heroes were early Social Justice Warriors, it strikes me that the original Star Trek series produced a pointed parody of the SJWs — and of the technological enforcement of their creed — in the 1967 episode, “ The Return of the Archons .” It’s not specifically against SJWs, but one of...