Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

States' rights under a federated system still mean something – except when they mean nothing to the reigning power. Britain, by withdrawing from the European Union (EU), has just provided to the free world’s democratic remnant a valuable lesson in sovereignty. Among other reasons the “Leave” party in Britain was anxious to dissever the ties that bound it to the EU was a loss of decision-making power, the leeching of sovereignty from Britain to Brussels, where matters of national import were decided by EU bureaucrats fortified against a democratic voting process to which the government of Britain had since the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688, which led through Britain’s  1689 Bill of Rights  to a Parliamentary ascendancy, willingly bent its knees.

We appear to be moving from one farce to another -- at warp speed. U.S. Representative John Larson, who holds what may be the safest Congressional seat in Connecticut, organized a 60’s style “sit-in” protest in the House. This followed a filibuster in the Senate by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, assisted in his endeavor by U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal and other co-conspirators. What are the Democrats doing, and why are they doing it? On the matter of safe seats, it’s a toss-up between 1st District Representative Larson and 3rd District Representative Rosa DeLauro. The Democrats have been trying to get top-billing as moral crusaders from the usual moral epigones, such as the New York Times and the Hartford Courant.

Forced to choose between honest and open government on the one hand and the prospect of a winning campaign on the other hand, what professional incumbent politician would not choose the latter? Better to be a live elected rat than a dead unelected lion: Such is the overarching rule in the political barnyard. Another barnyard rule, stated by the propaganda pig in George Orwell in “Animal Farm,” goes like this:  In the political barnyard, everyone is equal – but the pigs are MORE equal. In 2014, Governor Dannel Malloy – present approval rating among voters in Connecticut 24 percent and dipping – hoped to get an edge up during his campaign against Republican Party opponent Tom Foley, who lost  by a slender 23,000 votes. But because an earlier General Assembly had reacted properly to the political peculation of former Governor John Rowland, the cash poor Malloy first had to surmount a difficulty.

Shortly after U.S. Senator Chris Murphy concluded his 15 hour filibuster – which was awarded three out of four Pinocchios by the left of center Washington Post -- he received plaudits from the usual corners of the Democratic Party barracks. All seven Members of Connecticut’s U.S. Congressional Delegation heaped praise upon Mr. Murphy, which must have come as a relief to the Senator, because it released him of the embarrassing necessity of praising himself. For a while there it was nip and tuck. A meeting of the minds between Republicans, who control both houses of Congress, and Democrats was a distinct possibility.  Before Mr. Murphy’s filibuster, Senate Republicans had proposed an amendment to a background check measure offer by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. The Republican amendment was, according to a story in the Hartford Courant , a compromise attempt designed to correct what many felt was a defect in the watch-list measure supported by virtually a...

U.S.  Senator Chris Murphy in mid-June spent 14 hours filibustering other Senators in an attempt to force them to accept a piece of legislation that denies specific weapons to people who have been placed on a terrorist no-fly list. Apart from Mr. Murphy's half-baked factoids , there are numerous problems with this approach. The watch list itself is a defective mousetrap.  The list has ensnared people who obviously are not terrorists, such as Steve Hayes -- a conservative writer unrelated to Cheshire multiple murderer Steven Hayes -- whose work appears regularly in prospective Republican Party Presidential Nominee Donald Trump’s least favorite magazine, The Weekly Standard. Some people suppose that anyone who opposes the prevailing regime, Republican or Democrat, may find himself shorn of his or her Constitutional right to bear arms or travel freely if the defective no-fly list is used to deny them specific weapons, what have been called “weapons of war” by Hillary Cli...

Readers of this page may be surprised to learn that the U.S. Congress still prays. Convocations during opening sessions are common among Congressmen even today when, largely because of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, open displays of religious expression are discouraged. In what may be his most famous inaugural address, President Abe Lincoln said, “Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-men’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.’”

ISIS, the Islamic terrorist network, may have gone too far this time. On Saturday, as reported by The Gateway Pundit , “an Islamist extremist [Omar Mateen]   murdered 20 people at a ‘Pulse’ gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.” Fifty people are now reported dead. Gays have long been a targeted group for Islamic terrorists.

“ Hillary, The Other Woman: A Political Memoir By Dolly Kyle ” is in part a Southern bodice ripper, so keep it from the kids. Ms. Kyle (well preserved and pictured to the left) very well may be Bill Clinton’s “first love.” According to a cliff-notes review of Ms. Kyle’s new book written for the Daily Mail by Caroline Howe, the two lovers got it on in high school and kept it on before, during and after Mr. Clinton’s marriage (sort of) to Hillary Clinton, who snatched his heart while the two were students at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

That crunching sound you hear is the fall of the house of Malloy. Governor Dannel Malloy’s disapproval rating at Mid-March was a hefty 68 percent, according to a recent poll published by Quinnipiac College . The low approval rating of 23 percent marks Mr. Malloy, head of the Democratic Governors Association, as the most unpopular governor in the nation, only a few weeks after Mr. Malloy was awarded the Kennedy Center’s Profile in Courage Award. A previous Connecticut Governor, Lowell Weicker, also received the same award shortly after his popularity rating in the state plummeted during his contentious term in office, in the course of which Mr. Weicker had vetoed three non-income tax budgets and finally succeeded in forcing the General Assembly to impose an income tax on a state that once had attracted businesses because it was a low tax, low regulatory Eden.

Just prior to the California primary, a “must win” for socialist Bernie Sanders, the Hillary Clinton campaign pointed out that their beleaguered leader had acquired enough delegates to overcome Mr. Sanders at the upcoming Democratic Party Presidential nominating convention. A headline following the announcement, typical of most, read: “ Clinton secures delegates before last Democratic races ." The message of the Hillary campaign to prospective Sanders supporters just prior to the crucial primaries in six states – CA, MT, NM, ND, NJ and SD – and especially delegate rich California, could not be plainer:  Stay home, the campaign is over . Mrs. Clinton swept California and New Jersey. Following her California win, Mrs. Clinton slathered Bernie supporters with empathy. “I know it never feels good to put your heart into a cause or a candidate you believe in and come up short,” she said from her triumphant podium. “I know that feeling well.”

Stan Godlewski, Hartford Courant As June opened, the State Democratic Party held a fundraiser in Hartford. The usual political celebrities were in attendance, along with deep-pocket notables. For once in a long while, state unions in Connecticut were on the outside looking in – and protesting. It was a difficult moment for union-friendly Democratic politicians.  Passing by State AFL-CIO President Lori Pelletier, Comptroller Kevin Lembo paused for a moment, bussed Ms. Pelletier on the cheek, acknowledged the protesters, and moved into the Hartford Convention Center to join those hawking for money at the Democratic Party fund-raising event.

Governor Dannel Malloy has not been able to discover from cross-talk between his office and CEO of Aetna Insurance Company Mark Bertolini whether Aetna, following the company’s merger with Humana, will move its headquarters out of state. The resolution of this mystery is important because a removal of Aetna’s headquarters from Connecticut will reduce the state’s revenue stream. Should Aetna pull a GE on Mr. Malloy, Connecticut's notoriously out-of-balance budget will suffer yet another inconvenient battering – this on the eve of state elections. For this reason, efforts have been made to decipher the cryptic comments Mr. Bertolini earlier made to Aetna stockholders. Like the oracles of the “False Prophet Alexander” lampooned by the Roman satirist Lucian, which oracles were richly detailed but opaque, obscure and non-responsive, Mr. Bertolini’s statements  to his stockholders admit of several meanings. Their sense has befuddled both Mr. Malloy and Luke Bronin, the ...