Image 01 Image 03

Author: Laurel Conrad

Profile photo

Laurel Conrad

Laurel Conrad is the president of the Cornell Review, Cornell's conservative news publication, and president of Network of Enlightened Women, a campus conservative women's networking organization. She is the daughter of a retired Marine Corps officer and the oldest of four children.

Laurel has previously contributed to the Daily Caller and Cornell Insider. She will graduate with a degree in Government and minor in Asian Studies in 2014. You can follow her on twitter at @LaurelRConrad

With less than two weeks to go before the Virginia gubernatorial election, candidates Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli (aka Sauron and SpongeBob Squarepants) are each receiving campaign support from some pretty well-known political figures. On Saturday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered a “rousing endorsement” to an audience in Falls Church, Virginia for Democrat candidate Terry McAuliffe. (Whom some in Virginia have branded “Terry McAwful”) This week, former President Bill Clinton is set to join McAuliffe at five different campaign events in Virginia. Meanwhile, Rick Santorum is on team Cuccinelli. His PAC,  Patriot Voices, is calling for volunteers to “Join our Strikeforce and help Ken Cuccinelli become the next Governor of Virginia!”

Democratic lawmakers are definitely not holding back with name-calling lately, even comparing conservatives to arsonists, people with bombs strapped to their chests, and extortionists. Check out 5 recent outrageous accusations, which have the Democrats seeming rather, um, "unhinged" themselves.

1. “Unhinged” Arsonists

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida Democrat, told Candy Crowley of CNN in a recent interview that the House GOP is “unhinged” and attempted to use an analogy to equate their actions with burning down a house. “You have Republicans on the other side who are irrational and not playing with a full deck. Would you -- if you didn't like the redesign of your kitchen, would you burn the whole house down or would you try to make modifications to the kitchen? These people have come unhinged.”

2. Insane People Who “Have Lost their Minds”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid bemoaned on the Senate floor how House Republicans “have lost their minds” because they “keep trying to do the same thing over and over again.”

As Professor Jacobson details in his companion post, the Matthew Shepard narrative of anti-gay hatred culminating in murder may not be what it seems. Research detailed in The Book of Matt by Stephen Jimenez casts doubt on the anti-gay part of the narrative. But by now, the apparently-false narrative has become deeply ingrained in American culture. Detailed below are just a few examples of how the narrative has taken hold.

Music:

Elton John penned “American Triangle” as a tribute song to Shepard. Lyrics include, “God hates fags where we come from.” Lady Gaga performed a rendition of “Imagine,” referring to Shepard Speaking of Lady Gaga, a Lady Gaga fan put out a video of himself signing to “Born this way” in commemoration of Shepard: Melissa Etheridge released a song called “Scarecrow” as tribute to Shepard. Lyrics include, “For love they crucified you,” and “This shepherd young and mild.” Many other songs were penned for Shepard, including: Peter Katz’s, “The Fence (The Matthew Shepard Song)” Peter, Paul, and Mary’s, “Jesus on the Wire” Protest the Hero’s, “Fear and Loathing in Laramie” Ron Sexsmith’s, “God Loves Everyone” Janis Ian’s, “Matthew

Politics:

Shortly after the attack against Shepard in 1998, former President Clinton, asked the nation to join him in praying for Shepard.  In the statement, he said he was "deeply grieved" by the crime, and used it as a rallying point for legislation. By video, President Obama promoted the Matthew Shepard Foundation and welcomed guests to a Matthew Shepard gala dinner. In the video, Obama recounts how he met with Matthew’s mother in the Oval Office, and promised her he would “honor Matthew’s legacy by ensuring that the full might of the law comes down on those who would attack somebody” because of their sexual identity.

Obamacare’s start date, October 1st,  is rapidly approaching. As the impending Tuesday draws nearer and nearer, new headlines are drawing attention to unsettling aspects of the system. Troubling enough was the NSA surveillance scandal this summer. Now, add sensitive medical information to the mix.  Concerned citizens...

Spoiler candidate alert: Libertarian Robert Sarvis is a third-party candidate in the 2013 Virginia governor’s race. Although polling reveals that it is unlikely for him to win, will he split votes away from Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli in the process? Election day is less than 60...

In an effort to deter the US from attacking Syria, the “International Human Shields” movement is eying to locate civilians to Damascus from across the globe, including Britain and the US, reports the Daily Telegraph. Even as residents are evacuating Syria, hundreds of activists are volunteering to be placed in harm’s way against possible air strikes, despite the dangerous nature of the protest. One such activist is Andrew, a 33 year-old Canadian pianist. “I don’t want to see Syria turn into another Libya,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “If I had a hand big enough to squash the US tanks then I would. Democracy is America’s deadliest export, they use it as an excuse to destroy countries.” Franklin Lamb, a lawyer appointed as the legal adviser for the US-based group, stated in a recent op-ed that he is frequently asked how Obama can ignore the reluctance of American people to become militarily involved in Syria. “What kind of Democracy do you have that your President can ignore the will of the American public?”, he is asked by Syrians. Lamb describes how the goal is to bring “1000 Americans and thousands of others”  to potential bomb sites in Syria during the next ten days, reminding Lamb of "one of the International Solidarity Movement international volunteer’s efforts in Occupied Palestine in order to try to protect homes of Palestinians from Government bulldozing". According to Lamb, an objective of the movement is to ensure a message of solidarity among the international community by sending “ideally at least one representative from every UN Member State.” However, one of the major obstacles to fulfilling this goal will be convincing the Syrian government to allow the activists to enter the country. If allowed in the country, activists are to be sent to sites deemed critical to the survival of the Syrian people which include, “power plants, water treatment facilities, bomb shelters (if they exist), civilian communications sites, food storage sites.” Meanwhile, Syria prepares for US attacks, positioning troops in residential neighborhoods and warning residents to move out, according to the Wall Street Journal. Another group of human shields, called “Over Our Dead Bodies, has already been organized by some Damascenes. Reuters has footage of the group, which has allegedly received support from all over the globe, in the video below.

[WAJ intro: Laurel Conrad is a Cornell University Senior. This is her first post at Legal Insurrection. Laurel is President of the conservative Cornell Review, and the Cornell chapter of the Network of Enlightened Women. Laurel interned this summer at The Daily Caller. We look forward to more posts from Laurel this academic year. Follow her on Twitter.] ------------------------------------

In February 2013, a series of bias incidents occurred on Oberlin campus. The outraged campus canceled classes and received much attention from the media, including an article in the Huffington Post.

However, the two students who perpetrated the racist acts later claimed that it was a "joke" in order to "troll" the campus, according to the police report.  Notably, the lead perpetrator was a liberal student with a history of Obama activism in high school and college.

After the hoax was exposed, the Huffington Post ran an article by the Associated Press, Oberlin Racism Hoax.

However, the AP article left out one critical piece of information, that the hoax was perpetrated by a liberal.  We could not have set a better trap if we had tried.

Many of the HuffPo commenters gleefully jumped to the conclusion that the perpetrator of the hoax must be a conservative Rush Limbaugh-listening Republican.

Below, check out these hilarious 15 liberals who just can't handle the truth!

1. RNC Derangement Syndrome.

Somehow, I think that the RNC will be just fine without the pseudo-racist Obama supporter.

2. Should have gone to Liberty.

These are all certainly top-choice colleges for liberal activists!

3. Lofty conservative ambitions.

And yet on Twitter, the student described himself as an “atheist/pacifist/environmentalist/libertarian socialist/consequentialist.” Hmm, something just doesn't add up here….