Grimm Gone

Late yesterday evening, Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) announced that he would resign from Congress effective January 5th -- one day before the new Congress formally meets. Grimm's resignation was necessitated by last week's guilty plea on charges of tax evasion, which could send him to jail for three years.

First elected in 2010, Grimm has been dogged by allegations of campaign finance violations since January 2012. The Justice Department has been investigating Grimm for two years.

He began this year with a bout of negative publicity after threatening to throw a reporter off of a Capitol Hill balcony and break him in half.

Given all this controversy, Democrats targeted Grimm for defeat and he was vastly outspent by his Democrat challenger and left-wing groups. Yet he prevailed by a surprisingly large margin in a district that Barack Obama carried.

Grimm was right to resign. The voters of Staten Island deserve better than a congressman who has pled guilty to tax evasion.

Now if only Charlie Rangel would follow Grimm's example. Rangel, you may recall, had significant tax troubles, but he refused to resign. He was formally censured by the House for violating numerous ethics rules.

Is Scalise Next?

The GOP's embarrassments were compounded yesterday by news that the number three House leader, Majority Whip Steve Scalise, addressed a group led by racist and Jew-hater David Duke in 2002. At the time, Scalise was serving in the Louisiana legislature.

Scalise claims he had no idea that the group was associated with Duke and that he had a policy of speaking to any group that invited him. But that explanation is falling flat with some conservatives.

RedState's Erick Erickson wrote: "By 2002, everybody knew Duke was still the man he had claimed not to be. EVERYBODY. How the hell does somebody show up at a David Duke organized event in 2002 and claim ignorance? Trent Lott was driven from the field . . . for something less than this."

To be clear, David Duke was never a legitimate conservative. While Duke is often identified as a "former" KKK leader, he never abandoned his bigotry.

In recent years, he has become a popular lecturer in the Middle East, aiming his bile at Israel and Jews. For example, Duke claims that radical Islamists did not attack us on 9/11. He blames that atrocity on Israel!

Good people on Capitol Hill are defending Scalise. Even Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, has come to his defense.

(By the way, West Virginia's Robert Byrd (D) was a member of the KKK and served in the Senate for decades, even as Majority Leader, until his death in 2010.)

I have never seen any evidence that Scalise shares Duke's racism. But I do know that the Republican Party cannot afford to have this cloud of controversy hanging over it when it is trying to grow the conservative coalition.

This afternoon Speaker John Boehner stood by Scalise. Boehner said that while Scalise made an "error in judgment," he was "a man of high integrity and good character" who enjoyed Boehner's "full confidence."

This controversy may blow over during the holiday weekend. But if his continued presence in the GOP leadership team appears to be harming conservatism's larger cause, Scalise may have a tough decision to make.

Good News: Abortion Mills Closing

According to a recent survey, 73 abortion facilities shut down in 2014. The state with the most closures was Texas, where 14 abortion facilities went out of business thanks to new legislation mandating commonsense health and safety standards.

The number of surgical abortion mills in America peaked in 1991 at nearly 2,200. Since then, 75% have shut down. This is good news and more evidence that the work of pro-life legislators and organizations is yielding real results!

But so long as Roe v. Wade remains the law of the land, much more work remains to be done. As we prepare to close the books on 2014, I hope you will stand with us in support of our pro-life efforts!

Bad News: Culture of Death Prevails In "Palestine"

This is a time of year when people turn their attention to peace and goodwill. Unless, of course, you are part of the hate-filled, death-worshipping culture that prevails in the Palestinian territories.

The latest viral craze in "Palestine" is a how-to video -- unbelievably how to effectively stab and kill a Jew. If you have the stomach for it, you can see it here.

Continued calls for Israeli concessions and a "two-state solution" are delusional as long as this kind of raw hatred permeates the Palestinian mindset.