HOW ABOUT BOURBON? Drinking champagne every day ‘could help prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s.’

POLITICS BY OTHER MEANS: The use and abuse of scandal.

The great difficulty of interpreting political scandals was summarized by a newspaper editor in the western film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Deciding not to publish the truth of an explosive political story, the editor justifies it by saying, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” We have certainly had many legends regarding political scandals foisted on us, especially since Watergate.

Nearly every political administration has potential scandal lying just below the surface. There are always those in government who seek to profit privately from public service, and there are always those who will abuse their power. All governments provide the occasion for scoundrels of both kinds. But the scandals they precipitate rarely erupt into full-blown crises of the political order. What differentiates the scandals that do?

To understand a political scandal fully, one must take into account all of the interests of those involved. The problem is that these interests are rarely revealed—which is precisely why it is so tempting for partisans, particularly if they are at a political disadvantage, to resort to scandal to attack their opponents. Many great scandals arise not as a means of exposing corruption, but as a means of attacking political foes while obscuring the political differences that are at issue. This is especially likely to occur in the aftermath of elections that threaten the authority of an established order. In such circumstances, scandal provides a way for defenders of the status quo to undermine the legitimacy of those who have been elected on a platform of challenging the status quo....

Now go read the rest. Compare 'Trumpgate' with Watergate and understand that President Trump is fighting a political war. And winning.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Our modern satyricon.

History. Remember history?

PREPARE THYSELF. For 2020, perhaps? If so, it'll be a Trumpian landslide.

HIGHLANDS RANCH an inflection point on school shootings?

Possibly. Three things of note happened. First, the students refused to be victims; they rushed the shooters. Second, the students refused to play their 'proper role' in the politization of the tragedy; they walked out of the 'memorial' service.

And third, mostly unremarked, the media has since dumped coverage down the memory hole.

Stolen from Instapundit, who uses it frequently.

MEDICARE FOR ALL ISN'T: Medicare. Or for all.

NOT FEMINISTS: Women behind almost half of individual Trump contributions in first three months of year.

A BOLD STRATEGY: hold America's chief law enforcement officer in contempt of Congress for declining to commit a crime.

It only makes sense to deranged Democrats.

POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures has posted. My choice of a favorite was difficult this week, but I finally chose this one:

Now by all means go and see the rest.

DEREK HUNTER: PETA is beyond parody. Never - never! - contribute to PETA. Go to your local animal shelter and volunteer instead. You'll go a lot more good that way.

VICTIMS CONSTITUTE A CRISIS THAT CAN BE EXPLOITED. Heroes do not. Which explains the media's sudden disinterest in school shootings.

WHY YOU CAN THANK CONGRESS FOR THE BOOMING ECONOMY: No one is running the show.

We can do quite well without you; thank you very much for not helping.

HAH! STEPHEN GREEN'S SECOND LAW OF HOLES: "When your opponent is in one, get him a bigger and nicer shovel."

FOUR GROUPS of traditional Democrat voters who should walk away.

I suspect that's already happening.

RYAN BOMBERGER: I am the 1 percent.

I wonder: Is there now a serious path beginning to open toward repealing Roe v. Wade?