'Suck it up, Buttercup'
An Iowa Republican state legislator has introduced a bill that would levy fines on state universities that fund counseling services such as "cry rooms" to help students cope with the likes of the election of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. It also would make those who block traffic - such as those who shut down roads with their Trump protests - subject to criminal penalties.
The bill, authored by state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton, is called "Suck it up, Buttercup."
"[The likes of cry rooms are] a waste of taxpayer dollars, and that also doesn't prepare kids for life," he told Fox & Friends last week. "In life there's winners and losers and when your car breaks down, your kids get sick or you have to take a second job to pay your mortgage, you don't get to go to a cry zone, you don't get to pet a pony. You have to deal with it."
Kaufman said he heard "reports" that "cry rooms" had been set up around state campuses, but despite a "Not My President" rally and similar events, spokespersons for the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa said no cry rooms had been established.
The traffic blocking aspect of the bill, though, may have real merit. Perhaps, Tennessee legislators will consider it.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said last week President Obama should pardon Hillary Clinton for any crimes she may have committed.Two more Obama records
President Barack Obama has one day short of two months left in office, but his administration shattered two presidential records last week by beating his own mark for number of pages for regulations and rules in a year, and those in a day, in the Federal Register.
The administration set the new daily mark with 527 pages and then surpassed its 2015 total and reached 81,640 pages for the year. At its current pace, it may reach more than 90,000 for the year.
The Obama regime owns seven of the top 10 Federal Register page counts.
"This is astonishing and should be of great concern, and intolerable, to policymakers," said Wayne Crews, chief executive officer at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. "It is remarkable enough that the all-time record has been passed before Thanksgiving."
Truly, when Obama promised to govern by pen, he meant it.
We hope President-elect Donald Trump will be more like President Ronald Reagan, who brought page counts from President Jimmy Carter's 73,258 to as low as 44,812.
Wither to pardon
Democrat activist Jesse Jackson called on President Barack Obama last week to pardon former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for any acts she may have committed, but House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi couldn't imagine anything she might have done.
"I don't even know about that," she said in response to a question by The Daily Caller. "Pardon her for what? I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about. I mean I just don't know. I don't know what he would pardon her for. For what? I'm sorry. That just doesn't make any sense to me."
Jackson, meanwhile, said the former Democratic presidential nominee hasn't been legally accused, indicted, tried or convicted and couldn't imagine it happening.
"It would be a monumental, moral and political mistake to pursue the prosecution of Hillary Clinton," he said.
But, just in case, Mr. President, have you got a spare pardon form in your coat pocket?
Not so peachy
No good deed goes unpunished, even when the good deed is an 11-year-old elementary school student offering part of her peach to a classmate.
A Silver Trail Middle School student in Pembroke Pines, Fla., recently used a small child's butter knife to cut her peach in half to share with a friend, who had asked for a half, but that got her a suspension from school for six days for violating the county's "weapons policy."
Ronald and Andrea Souto told Local 10 News their daughter has had the knife since she was a "baby," when she was given it as part of a set to help children learn how to eat properly.
"This is a set of a spoon, fork and knife for toddlers - 1-year-olds," Andrea Souto said.
After the child cut the peach, she visited the restroom. When she returned, she was escorted away.
A Broward County school district spokeswoman cited "student privacy" in denying to supply details but did supply predictable words about following "district policy," continuing "to work with the student and parents" and having a "policy to maintain safe and secure campuses for students and staff at all times."
The Pembroke Pines Police Department then turned over its investigation to the state attorney's office.
Overreach? Overreaction? Just a wee bit.