Closing the tabs …
President Trump said he is not planning to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell—and he signaled that tariffs on China could be lowered.
“I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates … but, no, I have no intention to fire him,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
Ed: I never thought he’d fire Powell. The comment about his termination “not coming fast enough” pretty obviously referred to the end of his term. If Trump meant that as anything else, he just would have fired him. This is yet another silly panic set off by somewhat careless remarks.
===
WHOO BOY: In an order filed last night, Judge James Hendrix–the judge in Texas presiding over latest Alien Enemies Act case which prompted unprecedented intervention by SCOTUS–accused ACLU atty of violating federal code of conduct rules by calling his chambers AFTER Hendrix… pic.twitter.com/0kYMJbsPjc
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) April 22, 2025
Ed: I wonder (as does Kelly) how much ex parte communications took place with Judge Boasberg. Hmmmm.
===
During more than two and a half hours of argument on Tuesday, several justices read aloud from the text of the disputed storybooks, some of which referred to drag queens and same-sex marriage. Conservative justices repeatedly pressed the lawyer for the Maryland school system on why it could not easily accommodate the religious parents and allow their children to opt out of objectionable curriculum.
“What’s the big deal about allowing them to opt out?” asked Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.
“I’m not understanding why it’s not feasible,” added Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who said he was “mystified” by the school board’s actions in the Maryland county where he grew up and still lives.
Ed: It’s entirely absurd that Maryland refuses to allow parents to opt out of this indoctrination efforts. It seems as though the Supreme Court agrees too, although one should take care not to assume too much from the questions during oral argument. But even the WaPo seems to think that Maryland didn’t have good answers to these questions.
===
The White House backed the firing of three Pentagon officials amid leaks against Hegseth.
“We are not going to tolerate individuals who leak to the mainstream media,” Leavitt said after our @DashaBurns pressed on the firings.
Watch the exchange👇 pic.twitter.com/7yuwoD1b6h
— POLITICO (@politico) April 22, 2025
Ed: Pour encourager les autres.
===
Negotiations between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program will move Wednesday to what is known as the “expert level” — a sign analysts say shows that the talks are moving forward rapidly.
However, experts not involved in the talks who spoke with The Associated Press warn that this doesn’t necessarily signal a deal is imminent. Instead, it means that the talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff haven’t broken down at what is likely the top-level trade — Tehran limiting its atomic program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Ed: I suppose this is good news, because as Winston Churchill once observed, jaw-jaw is better than war-war. But I worry that we may rush into a deal for a deal’s sake, just as Barack Obama did in 2015. Any deal would require Iran to not just end its pursuit of nuclear technology related in any way to weapons, but also to scale back its ballistic missile programs too.
===
As the liberal Intelligencia cheers Harvard for fighting Trump, I remind the @cnn panel what this is about – these universities absolutely allowed Jewish kids to be terrorized on campus. The president is standing against ugly anti-semitism & for Western Civilization. pic.twitter.com/dcUovsIUlj
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) April 22, 2025
===
Michigan is set to face a competitive primary and fierce race for the battleground state’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2026.
Three major Democrats have already entered the contest, while Republicans eye flipping the seat, which will be vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.
The battleground state had mixed results for both parties in 2024, with President Donald Trump snagging a win in the presidential race and then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, prevailing in the Senate race. Democrats hope to keep the open seat in their hands, while Republicans hope to flip it and add to their majority in the Senate.
Ed: This is a real opportunity for Republicans, but bear in mind that the GOP hasn’t had the same kind of support in Michigan that Trump mustered for himself. Dave McCormick won the Senate seat in Pennsylvania over incumbent Bob Casey, but the GOP lost Senate seats in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada despite Trump’s wins in each state last November. It will take more than MAGA to flip these seats — maybe not MUCH more, but something extra.
===
Who does Randi Weingarten think she is? pic.twitter.com/k5AG6wVG0n
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 22, 2025
Ed: WTH …?
===
America’s obsession with countering mis- and disinformation has withered as society grows skeptical of institutions once trusted with facts. …
Even Democrats, who have for years pushed tech companies to take action against falsehoods, have begun to lose their truth-seeking appetite amid broader political battles.
Ed: That’s because the “experts” keep lying to them, and keep attempting to suppress debate through tendentious and mainly partisan “fact checking.” It’s an industry that deserves to die.
===
Ed: And for the final Final Word, here’s Alan Dershowitz dismantling Larry David — remarkably gently — as a Holocaust denier. He has a couple of words for the New York Times for publishing David’s insane column, too.
===
