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November 2013

Posted by Mandy Nagy on November 26, 2013 13 Comments

After insurance policy cancellations and the botched launch of healthcare.gov, the political fallout from the rollout of Obamacare seems to be having an impact for Democrats in general and Obama, according to recent polling conducted by CNN and ORC International. From a CNN post this morning...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 26, 2013 39 Comments

Reader 9thDistrictNeighbor and her husband are Kenyon College graduates. She sent me a link to a story from November 21 about two Kenyon students who dressed as ghosts, were confronted by campus security, accused of racism, and ultimately apologized for being insensitive to their white male...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on November 26, 2013 23 Comments

New York has provided its state police 32 tall unmarked sports utility vehicles so they can more easily peer in on motorists who might be texting while driving. From the Associated Press/News 12 Hudson Valley: Even for a state trooper, it's not easy to spot drivers who...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 25, 2013 38 Comments
I don't think it's overstatement to say that Obama successfully has isolated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by bringing the major world powers plus Germany into an Iran nuclear agreement publicly opposed by Netanyahu (and quietly by many Arab countries). The perennial thorn in Obama's Mideast side stands almost alone in publicly opposing the deal.  The agreement helps keep the Mullahs in power through removal of sanctions while normalizing Iranian uranium enrichment.  More than that, the statements accompanying the deal announcement treat Iran as the regional power to resolve a host of issues, including Syria. In exchange, Iran agrees to slight compromises that push back the "breakout" period to produce a nuclear weapon by a few weeks or months at most. Jeffrey Goldberg assesses Israel's isolation, In Iran, Obama Achieves 50 Percent of His Goals:
U.S. President Barack Obama has had two overarching goals in the Iran crisis. The first was to stop the Iranian regime from gaining possession of a nuclear weapon. The second was to prevent Israel from attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. This weekend, the president achieved one of these goals. He boxed-in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu so comprehensively that it's unimaginable Israel will strike Iran in the foreseeable future. Netanyahu had his best chance to attack in 2010 and 2011, and he missed it. He came close but was swayed by Obama’s demand that he keep his planes parked. It would be a foolhardy act -- one that could turn Israel into a true pariah state, and bring about the collapse of sanctions and possible war in the Middle East -- if Israel were to attack Iran now, in the middle of negotiations.
I think it's much broader than forestalling an Israeli attack.

Posted by A.F. Branco on November 25, 2013 3 Comments

Note: You may reprint this cartoon provided you link back to this source.  To see more Legal Insurrection Branco cartoons, click here. Branco’s page is Cartoonist A.F.Branco...

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on November 25, 2013 35 Comments

Many of you may recall Oprah's recent comments regarding her sense that Americans disrespect Obama because he is black.  In response, Mark Joseph, writing in his USA Today column, "No, Oprah, America isn't racist," argues that she's "living in another era" and illustrates his point...

Posted by New Neo on November 25, 2013 28 Comments

Both Democrats and Republicans have talked about the nuclear option for years---usually in favor of it when they're the majority party and against it when in the minority. But it's all been talk, till now. So why did the Democrats finally do it? In the Wall...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 25, 2013 3 Comments
The first American killed in the Afghan war, during a prisoner uprising in northern Afghanistan.  On November 25, 2001. We have written of Mike Spann several times before, Remembering Johnny “Mike” Spann:
The story of this small band of men has been told, but not told enough. Spann was killed during the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi when Taliban prisoners gained access to weapons and attacked. Spann was killed during that uprising (see video).  One of the prisoners was the so-called American Taliban, John Walker Lyndh, who Spann interrogated shortly before Spann’s death. Spann’s wife Shannon also worked for the CIA.  In addition to his wife, Spann left behind two daughters and an infant son Spann’s family established a website to honor his life, and there is a wealth of information and photos at his Arlington National Cemetery page. There is an interesting honor paid to Spann at the website of Afghan General and Warlord Abdul Radhis Dostum, including a link to a photo of the memorial to Spann at the site of the uprising in which he died.
We also had follow up posts: Now meet his oldest child, daughter Alison:

Posted by Mandy Nagy on November 24, 2013 3 Comments

Organizers of demonstrations in Egypt will now be required to provide advance notice to police and face other restrictions on demonstrations, according to a new law passed this weekend. From Reuters: Egypt's president passed a law on Sunday making it illegal to hold demonstrations without the approval...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on November 24, 2013 9 Comments

A first grade boy who suffers from a speech impediment got a big surprise when members of a Williams Intermediate School football team in Bridgewater, Massachusetts banded together to support him after it became known the child was being bullied. Danny Keefe, who is a waterboy...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on November 24, 2013 8 Comments

Against the recommendation of elders, Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai said on Sunday that he would not immediately sign a security deal with the US, according to the Associated Press.  The news comes after a six-day showdown between Karzai and the US. From the Associated Press (via...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 24, 2013 17 Comments
The nuclear agreement with Iran is being touted by the Obama administration as a significant step in keeping Iran from moving towards nuclear weapons. In reality, the agreement is confirmation of Iran's uranium enrichment program at a relatively high level, although some of the highest level enrichment is supposed to be suspended. The fact is that in return for a weakening of sanctions that were putting great pressure on Iran, the centrifuges keep spinning, the facilities are maintained, and at best the length of time for an Iranian nuclear "breakout" has been lengthened for a short period. Eli Lake at The Daily Beast notes the significance:
Under the interim agreement Iran will be allowed to enrich uranium at low levels. Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif said the deal recognized his country's nuclear program. This is a major victory for Iran whose leaders have insisted for nearly a decade that it has the right to enrich uranium under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Officially, the Obama administration has not recognized that any country has this right under the treaty. It has argued that Iran has to adhere to the terms of prior U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit Iran from enrichment.
It is smoke and mirrors, allowing the Obama administration to declare diplomatic victory, change the subject, and create the straw man argument that anyone opposed to the agreement wants war. https://twitter.com/JohnCornyn/status/404624480837722112 https://twitter.com/dansenor/status/404626184865996800

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 24, 2013 9 Comments

Americans planning to travel around the East Coast this Thanksgiving are in for a real weather treat: A nor'easter is swirling together and it could hit the east coast just in time for Thanksgiving, Quartz reports. The storm looks like it will stretch from New England down...

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