Karen Bradley admitted today she did not understand the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland before being promoted to the Cabinet post overseeing the province.

In an astonishing confession, she admitted to not knowing Unionist and Nationalist parties do not compete with each for votes but instead vie for support within their own communities.
---
And she said: 'I freely admit that when I started this job, I didn't understand some of the deep-seated and deep-rooted issues that there are in Northern Ireland.

'I didn't understand things like when elections are fought for example in Northern Ireland - people who are nationalists don't vote for unionist parties and vice-versa.

'So, the parties fight for election within their own community. Actually, the unionist parties fight the elections against each other in unionist communities and nationalists in nationalist communities.'

I can think of few events which have made me prouder to be a Democrat than Cory Booker announcing he will release documents related to Brett Kavanaugh which have been designated “committee confidential.” (You can read them here.)Yes, as Sen. Booker has stated, he’s aware that such an “offense” carries with it the possibility of being expelled from the Senate. That said, he seems willing to play chicken with Republicans, who seem bent on concealing as much of Kavanaugh’s record as possible.

-----------------------

I don’t know what the denouement of this saga will be, but it’s clearly going to take someone with sizable cojones standing up and drawing a line in the sand to prove that Kavanaugh is unfit to serve on the Supreme Court. Sen. Booker knows he’s not going to be expelled from the Senate, even if Republicans bring that question to a vote. The junior Senator from New Jersey understands the game he’s playing, and he seems to have a pretty good handle on how to manipulate the rules to his advantage.

It’s way too early to speculate as to whether Booker just won the 2020 Presidential election, but his act of moral courage certainly isn’t going to damage his prospects. Then again, I seriously doubt that was part of the calculus which went into his decision

From his interview with the Daily Caller:

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Nike sent a “terrible message” this week by making former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick one of the faces representing the 30th anniversary of the company’s “Just Do It” campaign.

“I think it’s a terrible message. Nike is a tenant of mine. They pay a lot of rent,” Trump said, referring to Niketown New York, which is — for now — located at 6 East 57th Street in New York City.

Trump added Tuesday that “there’s no reason” for the famous sports apparel company to tap Kaepernick for the campaign. “But I think it’s a terrible message that they’re sending and the purpose of them doing it, maybe there’s a reason for them doing it,” Trump mused.