The Josh Hammer Report

Josh Hammer

Newsweek Opinion Editor And Host,
"The Josh Hammer Show"

This week, my column drew a direct line between the recent bout of mobocracy at Stanford Law School, where a frothing mob of left-wing activists and a sympathetic DEI dean succeeded in shouting down U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, and the successful thuggish tactics that the Israeli Left—egged on by an all-too supportive international community—has employed for months in its (successful) effort to temporarily derail Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to reform the unhinged and wholly unaccountable Israeli Supreme Court. I argue that both instances, from Palo Alto to Tel Aviv, represent the "triumph of animalistic, reflexive emotionalism over the distinctly human capacity to engage in logical deliberation in pursuit of that most anachronistic of concepts, the very invocation of which hearkens to a bygone era: truth." This deeply disturbing trend, increasingly ubiquitous, does not bode well for the West—to put it mildly.

On the most recent episode of "The Josh Hammer Show," I broke down everything you need to know about this week's Earth-shattering news: The historic, unprecedented criminal indictment in Manhattan of former President Donald Trump. I explained exactly why Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's prosecution is so legally meritless—including glaring jurisdictional and statute of limitations issues that should be evident to even a first-year law student—and also painted a broader picture of why this sordid saga truly represents a Rubicon that has been crossed, and from which the American republic can never return. It is a profoundly sad and disturbing precedent that has been set this week. And for the Right, as I often say, the only way out is through: to respond in kind and to fight fire with fire, within the confines of prudence and reason. I then ended the show with comments about U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge James C. Ho's (disclosure: my former boss) announced extension of his clerkship hiring boycott from Yale Law School to now also include Stanford Law School. You can listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In terms of media appearances over the past week, I joined Dave Rubin's "The Rubin Report" on BlazeTV for the Friday week-in-review panel, joined Sara Gonzales's "The News & Why It Matters" on BlazeTV to discuss the unprecedented Trump indictment, joined "The Jenna Ellis Show" on Salem Radio Network to discuss the same, joined "The Rita Panahi Show" on Sky News Australia to discuss the same, joined Newsmax's "National Report" to discuss the same, joined The First's "I'm Right with Jesse Kelly" to discuss the same, joined "The Jason Rantz Show" on KTTH AM 770 Seattle to discuss the same, joined One America News Network's "Tipping Point with Kara McKinney" to discuss Judge Ho's announced boycott of hiring law clerks from troubled Stanford Law School, joined "Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar" to discuss the unprecedented Trump indictment, co-recorded (along with the Manhattan Institute's Ilya Shapiro) a CenterClip recording on the future of Florida as a right-wing bastion (see below), and (as usual) co-hosted the Edmund Burke Foundation's most recent episode of the "NatCon Squad" podcast.

I had two other notable bits of media this week, as well. Last Saturday, I was quoted in a Wall Street Journal feature essay on Florida's emergence as a hub of right-wing intellectual thought and political activity. Also, last weekend, I was delighted to publish an essay in American Affairs journal, one of my favorite publications, as part of their Special Symposium on "Australia's News Media Bargaining Code and Implications for U.S. Policy."

I'll be in Nashville this coming Monday and Tuesday for a Federalist Society speaking event at Vanderbilt Law School on Tuesday. If you live in the Nashville area and would like more information, you can contact me at the email address below.

Our highlighted right-leaning Newsweek op-eds this week include selections from Will Scharf, Max Eden, CJ Pearson, Clare Morell, and David Reaboi.

Thanks for subscribing! Please share the word about this newsletter throughout your social circles. And on this particularly meaningful week for Jews and Christians, I wish all of you a chag sameach and a happy Passover, as well as a happy and blessed Easter.

Spotlight

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From Stanford to Israel, Mobocracy Triumphs Over Deliberation

The very notion of republican self-governance, which has been a core tenet of Western civilization since the demise of the great monarchs of Europe, depends upon the willingness of citizens to debate and deliberate the most pressing issues of society. Sadly, high-profile recent examples, from the tony terrain of Stanford University all the way to the raucous streets of Tel Aviv, Israel, underscore the extent to which Western societies have given up on reasoned deliberation and capitulated to mobocracy. Where this civilizational decline ultimately ends is anyone's guess.

Earlier this month, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan was relentlessly heckled and successfully shouted down by a frothing mob of mini-Robespierre jackals who call themselves Stanford Law School students. The mob was simultaneously juvenile and outright vile, with one student unconscionably yelling to the esteemed jurist, "We hope your daughters get raped!" Even more galling, "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" Associate Dean Tirien Steinbach finally rose up upon the judge's plea to restore order...and, in preprepared remarks, sided with the protesters and ludicrously asked whether the "juice" (of Judge Duncan's planned remarks) was worth the "squeeze" of the alleged "harm" to the pampered brat students that Duncan's mere presence caused. (Steinbach has since been placed on administrative leave by Dean Jenny Martinez, although the culpable students have tragically escaped thus far with impunity.)

Earlier this week in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose conservative governing coalition has for months been pushing a set of anodyne, sorely needed, and long-overdue reforms to the unaccountable and almighty Israeli Supreme Court, agreed to pause his legislative push amidst unprecedented pushback and widespread societal meltdown. The at-times hundreds of thousands of rioters in the streets, who blocked highways and tracked down and physically intimidated leading pro-reform legislators and even Netanyahu's wife, had reached a debilitating fever pitch. A disturbing number of Israel Defense Forces reservists had reneged upon their military duties. Powerful unions had successfully temporarily grounded all departing flights from Ben Gurion International Airport. Venture capitalists had pulled billions of U.S. dollars' worth of investment out of Israel's thriving high-tech sector. All this, despite the left-wing opposition categorically refusing to sit down and negotiate in good faith on the judicial reform legislation.

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