Inside the Beltway: Is national media ready for ‘a mob of conservatives’?

NEWS AND OPINION:

“Why aren’t we having a national conversation about leftist violence?” asks David Harsanyi, a senior editor for TheFederalist.com, following recent unruly protests against Donald Trump in California.

“If a mob of conservatives attempted to shut down a major Hillary Clinton event, as rioters did the other day during a Donald Trump event, America would be thrust into an insufferable national dialogue about the growing violent tendencies of the Right to crush debate. There would be a flood of anxious op-ed pieces and cable news roundtables featuring chin-stroking pundits contemplating the future of discourse in America,” writes Mr. Harsanyi, adding that Mr. Trump’s fans have been cast as “violent”, just as teapartiers were during the 2010 midterms elections.

“I don’t remember any riots during the heyday of the tea party. I do remember citizens making their case known in town hall meetings, often loudly. When the Left is yelling, it’s activism. When the Right yells, we all are forced to ask ourselves, ’What ever happened to civility?’ ” Mr. Harsanyi notes.

$17,613 ticket for each young illegal

Every young illegal immigrant who arrives in the U.S. unaccompanied has a built-in expense factor: $17,613 each. That is how much it costs in tax payer funds to reunite mostly teenaged boys from Central America with family members, who are also in America illegally. So says a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies which reached the exact number after analyzing the Obama administration’s 2017 budget request for the $1.3 billion “Unaccompanied Children” program, plus other federal data. The cost of each young immigrant has doubled since 2010, the analysis found. It also traced past White House strategies to relocate this population, which have included casting them as “victims of trafficking.”

The report categorizes the latest initiative as “family reunification disguised as refugee resettlement,” operated in tandem with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The report predicts up to 75,000 minors could be involved in the near future.

“We can empathize with children wishing to reunite with family members who make it to the United States before them. We can also, however, question this administration’s policies and motives and wonder if it is in the best interest of the American people to welcome these children here,” says lead author Nayla Rush. “We might even call this program what it really is: a family reunification program specially crafted for illegal aliens and their children under the cover of refugee resettlement.”

Voters to Kasich: Give it a rest

There was a fair amount of squawking over a new Public Policy Polling survey revealing that 49 percent of likely voters in Ohio say that Gov. John Kasich should drop out of the presidential race. It is unhappy news for the tenacious Mr. Kasich. But the opinion is even more pronounced among Republican and conservative voters in the state: 58 percent of GOPers say Mr. Kasich should abandon his quest for the White House, along with 71 percent of “very conservative” and 54 percent of “somewhat conservative” respondents.

The survey also found 66 percent of the Ohio voters overall opposed spending the state’s tax payer funds for Mr. Kasich’s security on the campaign trail, while only 31 percent said their governor was properly tending to his duties in the statehouse.

As for Mr. Kasich, he has just released a new radio ad to air in Oregon called “Never give up.”

The media back and forth

“I think it was a legitimate criticism of CNN that it was a little too liberal.”

— CNN president Jeff Zucker, to The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

“It only took them 35 years to realize there’s actually another point of view in this country.”

— Fox News, in a response statement.

The federal guide to conventions

Along with supplying helpful information about unclaimed money, tax refunds, clinical trials and housing, the federal government is now offering a guide to political conventions, newly unveiled at USA.gov, a repository for government information and services. Find the guide listed under the “Voting and Elections” heading.

A historic Reagan connection

Indiana’s high stakes primary elections are upon us. The circumstances are actually historic, according to Eric Ostermeier, a University of Minnesota political professor who has pored over the historic records in the Hoosier State to reveal the particulars.

“Only one Indiana Republican presidential primary has been decided by less than 40 points since the primary in the state was restored in 1953: Ronald Reagan vs. Gerald Ford in 1976,” says the meticulous Mr. Ostermeier. “In the 1976 GOP contest, Reagan defeated Ford by a mere 2.58 points in what remains the narrowest Republican primary victory in the history of the state, and one of only three decided by less than 40 points.”

The details are excruciating, but interesting.

“The only two other competitive races in Indiana occurred before the Great Depression. In 1920, party favorite Major General Leonard Wood squeaked out a 2.6-point win with a plurality 37.9 percent over progressive California U.S. Senator Hiram Johnson in a four-candidate race. In 1928, the favorite son candidacy of three-term Indiana U.S. Senator James Watson prevailed by 5.9 points over Herbert Hoover,” Mr. Ostermeier explains.

Poll du jour

• 91 percent of parents with an infant at home have a “sleep routine” for their baby.

• 50 percent “would pay at least $100 for a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.”

• 43 percent get from one to three hours of uninterrupted sleep a night.

• 41 percent are not able to “sleep while the baby sleeps.”

• 21 percent of parents have fallen asleep in a parked car, 12 percent at the kitchen table and 11 percent in the shower.

Source: An Owlet/ORC International survey of 500 parents of infants conducted April 6-10 and released Monday.

• Murmurs and asides to jharper@washingtontimes.com.