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Jennifer Harper

Jennifer Harper

jharper@washingtontimes.com

Jennifer Harper wrote the daily Inside the Beltway column for The Washington Times.

Articles by Jennifer Harper

Demonstrators chant slogans on Capitol Hill to protest Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh. A national rally is planned for Saturday. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Judge Kavanaugh and the culture of protest

Awaiting the outcome of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court has become a classic cliffhanger, teetering in front of the American public with as much dramatic tension as a major sports event — which is why, perhaps, several international betting houses have offered odds on the outcome. News coverage, meanwhile, has been tinctured with opinion and speculation — even as U.S. Capitol Police and U.S. Supreme Court Police have ramped up security for lawmakers, as confrontations and protests get vigorous. Some officers have been called to form a human barrier around the more ardent demonstrations.

October 4, 2018
Local fans recite the Pledge of Allegiance at a MAGA rally before President Trump speaks in Johnson City, Tennessee, on Monday. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: The emergence of ‘Trump culture’

By week's end, President Trump will have attended five rallies in five states, taking to the stump to talk of America and cheerful things -- a sharp contrast to dire coverage from the news media and grim predictions from Democrats.

October 2, 2018
President Trump takes the stage during a campaign rally on Saturday in Wheeling, West Virginia. Four more rallies will follow this week. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Trump charm: Four rallies in five days

President Trump once again is going for the ultra-personal tactics that revved up Republicans and helped him win the 2016 election. As midterms loom, Mr. Trump is showing up in the heartland — in person and surrounded by American flags — at four of his signature jumbo rallies in the next five days. He was in Tennessee on Monday, then it's off to Mississippi, Minnesota and Kansas by week's end.

October 1, 2018
A crowded cast: Sens. Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham and Mike Crapo have a dialogue following a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Friday. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Kavanaugh drama: Buckle up, pay attention

The first act is over, but the drama escalates. We're talking, of course, of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh's quest to become a Supreme Court justice — an important event played out on a complex set with a huge cast of characters, myriad distractions and much media orchestration — complete with partisan agenda, timpani drums and hand-wringing. Will this dramatic tableau have an extended run? Maybe.

September 30, 2018
Ashley Estes Kavanaugh watches husband, Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Kavanaugh hearing: Intense, telling, troubling

The beer, the memories, the yearbook, the nicknames, the slang: It was 1983 all over again on Capitol Hill. The coverage of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh's appearance at the Senate on Thursday was subject to much interpretation from major news organizations, which fixated on the events all day and into the evening as the event continued and news gave way to analysis.

September 27, 2018
Despite media distractions, the "Trump Bump" is flourishing, and economic news continues to improve. Consumer optimism is high, too. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: He persisted: Trump Bump triumphs

The news media continues to set off strategic distractions to lure the public away from any good news about President Trump and his administration. But this is a given strategy now. Mr. Trump and his staff continue to take care of business, keep calm and carry on despite press reports suggesting the end is near, or words to that effect.

September 25, 2018
The National Cannabis Industry Association has a marijuana policy reform guide and claim the issue could be a "winning opportunity" for either political party. (National Cannabis Industry Association)

Inside the Beltway: Cannabusiness: ‘The new politics of marijuana’

Imagine what the old hippies of yore would have thought. But here it is: an official cannabis industry guide for lawmakers. Indeed, the National Cannabis Industry Association has released a new report covering what they describe as "the growing popularity of marijuana policy reform and the political benefits candidates in either party could reap by embracing the issue."

September 24, 2018
President Trump shakes hands with Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh his Supreme Court nominee, at the White House on July 9, 2018. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Inside the Beltway: ‘#MeToo has been weaponized’

It seems like years since Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh first appeared with President Trump at the White House as a newly minted Supreme Court nominee, accompanied by his family and applauded by peers. That was the evening of July 9. The calm promise of those early days quickly gave way to raucous protests, disrupted Senate hearings, explosive media coverage, partisan distractions and feminist uprisings. Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently declared that he has never seen the nation's capital "crazier, more paranoid, more tense or more dumb."

September 23, 2018
The 12th annual Values Voters Summit has arrived in the capital to emphasize the "momentum" and lasting power of America's values. (Family Research Council)

Inside the Beltway: Values Voters Summit holds the line as D.C. rages

The Values Voters Summit has arrived in the nation's capital for the 12th year in a row, and just in time. Amid discord, distractions, media mayhem and the rigors of a fast-approaching election, the three-day event provides a forum for traditional values, drawing 3,000 people and an impressive roster of 65 speakers. The weekend is dedicated to ensuring the "momentum" of bedrock values — along with religious freedom, pro-life causes, the state of conservatism, effective pushback against cultural foes and national security.

September 20, 2018
Sen. Dianne Feinstein is surrounded by reporters, all seeking her commentary on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh. and the challenges he now faces. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Media in frantic frenzy over Kavanaugh

There was once a time when the news media seemed all dressed up with nowhere to go. That is certainly not the case at the moment. News coverage of the turmoil surrounding Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court now mutates from one thing to another with startling speed. Press narratives unfold like origami. Indeed, there is now an army of journalists, analysts, broadcasters, pollsters, bloggers, strategists and columnists on the march, presenting their wares to a public that says that news coverage confuses them.

September 19, 2018
TidalWave Productions, which publishes biographical comic books, has just released a new title: "Political Power: Stormy Daniels." (TidalWave Productions)

Stormy Daniels now the heroine of a comic book, deemed ‘unlikely feminist icon’

It is a cultural moment to consider, and timed to precede the publication of adult film star Stormy Daniels tell-all book on her involvement with then-businessman Donald Trump years ago. TidalWave Productions, which publishes biographical comic books, has just released a new title: "Political Power: Stormy Daniels."

September 19, 2018