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June 2014

Posted by Andrew Branca on June 02, 2014 37 Comments
Well, the National Rifle Association has finally decided to release a statement about what I call the "open carry IN YOUR FACE!" (henceforth "OCIYF!") crowd in Texas, and the implications for reasonable gun owners and concealed carriers. The money shot?
Let's not mince words, not only is [the open carry of long guns in public] rare, it's downright weird and certainly not a practical way to go normally about your business while being prepared to defend yourself. To those who are not acquainted with the dubious practice of using public displays of firearms as a means to draw attention to oneself or one's cause, it can be downright scary. It makes folks who might normally be perfectly open-minded about firearms feel uncomfortable and question the motives of pro-gun advocates.
Beyond weird, the NRA notes that these OCIYF!" activities are actually HARMING the interests of gun owners and those of us private citizens who carry firearms for person protection:
As a result of these hijinx, two popular fast food outlets have recently requested patrons to keep guns off the premises (more information can be found here and here). In other words, the freedom and goodwill these businesses had previously extended to gun owners has been curtailed because of the actions of an attention-hungry few who thought only of themselves and not of those who might be affected by their behavior. To state the obvious, that's counterproductive for the gun owning community.
Bottom line, anyone who carries a firearm for the primary purpose of "LOOK AT MEEEEE!," ought to seriously consider whether they've achieved the maturity necessary to responsibly carry a firearm in public. Or as the NRA puts it:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 02, 2014 7 Comments
If Eric Holder wants to force James Risen to reveal a confidential source or go to jail, it looks like Holder could get his way after the Supreme Court today declined to take an appeal from NY Times reporter James Risen. WaPo elaborates on the background of the case:
In a 2006 book, “State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration,” Risen detailed classified information about the CIA’s efforts to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program. Prosecutors want Risen to testify in its prosecution of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA analyst. A district judge had said Risen did not have to testify. But a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond disagreed in a 2 to 1 decision. The majority said that under Supreme Court precedent, the First Amendment does not protect reporters from revealing who supplied them with unauthorized leaks. “Risen’s direct, firsthand account of the criminal conduct indicted by the grand jury cannot be obtained by alternative means, as Risen is without dispute the only witness who can offer this critical testimony,’’ wrote Circuit Judge William Byrd Traxler Jr.
The NY Times reports on the significance of today's court action, Supreme Court Rejects Appeal From Reporter Over Identity of Source:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 02, 2014 9 Comments
The release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl  in exchange for 5 top Taliban terrorists held at Gitmo has led to some mixed and hostile reaction. Meanwhile, across the Mexican border near my home town of San Diego, another American sergeant is languishing as a prisoner. The border crossing is undergoing construction, and the warning signs that indicate you are entering Mexico are not terribly visible. So when former active-duty U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi wanted to head back home with several guns in his vehicle, he actually began a now two-month journey into the Twilight Zone of Mexican justice.
As Tahmooressi explained, out of a parking lot, "I just made one wrong turn, and then that one wrong turn that I thought was going to take me north to San Diego was actually an on-ramp that swooped around back to the south and to Mexico." ... According to Jill Tahmooressi, her son immediately disclosed to the border guards that he had weapons and requested that he be allowed to turn around, she said. "The first thing he said to the first person that stopped him was, 'I got here accidentally; please let me turn around. I have three guns in my truck,' " his mother said. A 911 tape released by U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, appears to support his version of events.
FNC's Greta Van Susteren had a heart-wrenching interview with the mother, who indicates that American bureaucrats are not moving and shaking the Mexicans to get the decorated serviceman back home. According to the reports, Tahmooressi has been subjected to punching, slapping, deprivation of food and water, and being chained to a bed with a "four-point restraint for almost a month." It appears that the Mexican officials are treating him as a gunrunner.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 02, 2014 12 Comments
Hillary Clinton and her closest allies know that Benghazi spells big trouble for her in 2016, especially with a select committee poised to launch a new investigation with a fresh round of questions. With that in mind, it's no surprise that Clinton is trying to cut them off at the pass by addressing the subject in her new memoir. It's just an attempt to claim that all the questions surrounding the attack have already been answered. They haven't. Jim Geraghty of National Review weighed in recently...
Politico obtains the Benghazi-related chapter of Hillary Clinton’s forthcoming memoir, and describes it here. You are unlikely to be surprised to learn that she attacks the motives of her critics, contends the intelligence community believed the attack started as a protest — even though she was the one who first issued a statement declaring the attack video-related, while it was still going on — and contends the government did everything it could to rescue those under attack.
Stephen F. Hayes of The Weekly Standard offered this...

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 02, 2014 3 Comments
California Tea Party groups (CTPG) are showing that they are not only alive and kicking, but actively seeking to make a difference in Tuesday's upcoming gubernatorial primary election. "Our groups have now made an exception to their longstanding no endorsement rules," explained Dawn Wildman, long-time state coordinator and co-fonder of the SoCal Tax Revolt Coalition. "The tea party groups in CA have built consensus on so many issues and candidates that we are poised to become a big player in the upcoming elections.” As Wildman points out, since the IRS doesn't seem to be in a rush to give Tea Party groups tax exempt status, the organizers thought that it was time to take advantage of that fact.  So, they have named specific candidate preferences in this cycle, which has not been their policy before. "We still encourage everyone to do their own research," Wildman said.  "But we have had so many requests for a guide, and many of our groups are very tired of the GOP establishment hand-picking candidates, that we felt it was time to name names.  Interestingly, the leaders from California Tea Party organizations across the state came together on choices fairly quickly." Click HERE for the complete list of California Tea Party Groups' recommendations. As California's crazy often seeps over onto other states, I thought I might hit a few points of interest to Legal Insurrection fans elsewhere.  The governor's race in November is a foregone conclusion no matter which of the two leading GOP candidates (Tim Donnelly or Neel Kashkari) wins. Right now, the race between the two leading GOP contenders is a dead heat.
Republicans Tim Donnelly and Neel Kashkari are locked in a statistical dead heat in the Republican race for governor, according to a new USC/Los Angeles Times poll. Eighteen percent of likely voters support Kashkari and 13 percent support Donnelly, with 10 percent undecided, according to the poll. Both Republicans remain far behind Gov. Jerry Brown. The Democratic incumbent registered 50 percent support among likely voters.

Posted by David Gerstman on June 02, 2014 3 Comments
A little more information is available now about Mehdi Nemmouche, the gunman who killed three people - including an Israeli couple - and gravely injured one other in the Jewish Museum of Belgium on May 24. Nemmouche is a French citizen (he was arrested in Marseille, France) with a long arrest record, was known to have extreme religious beliefs and reportedly joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS while fighting in Syria last year. Nemnouche was captured during a customs check carrying a revolver and AK-47 thought to have been used in the attack as he arrived in Marseille from Belgium this past Friday. The New York Times reported:
He had been convicted seven times, on several occasions for driving without a license but also for violent robbery, and began a series of imprisonments in 2001, according to François Molins, the state prosecutor in Paris. Mr. Nemmouche appeared to have become radicalized during his time in prison; during his final stay, a five-year sentence, “he distinguished himself by his extremist proselytism,” Mr. Molins told reporters on Sunday, and fell in with other “radicalized Islamists.” Prison administrators “signaled” Mr. Nemmouche to the French intelligence services upon his release from prison, on Dec. 4, 2012, Mr. Molins said. Within about three weeks, however, Mr. Nemmouche had left France, bound for Brussels, London, Beirut, Istanbul and, ultimately, Syria, Mr. Molins said. French intelligence services believe it was there that he joined ISIS.
The Times reports further that "3,000 Europeans, including more than 700 French, are thought to have fought or to be fighting in Syria." The Washington Post included more details including statements from Belgian federal prosecutor, Frederic Van Leeuw.

Posted by New Neo on June 02, 2014 42 Comments
So, we have Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl released in exchange for five of the most notorious Taliban held in Guantanamo, the place Obama keeps saying he wants to empty. This certainly helps to empty it. The five men will now be held by Qatar, which has reassured us they'll be in secure conditions but won't say what those conditions are, except that they can't travel out of the country for a year. Qatar is a Wahabi country, by the way, with a history of assisting Islamic movements worldwide. Obama has been winding down the Afghan War, and one of his stalled goals in connection with that is negotiations with the Taliban. So it may be that the release of these particular prisoners wasn't just a reluctant move in order to free Bergdahl, it may be more accurate to say that Bergdahl's release was negotiated at this point in time in order to free the Taliban Five:
The official’s comments hinted that the deal is seen as potentially helping the Afghan government, which soon will have a new president, in efforts to end strife with the Taliban -- a point seconded by Jonah Blank, a senior political scientist at the Santa Monica, California-based RAND Corporation. “The Taliban prisoners released weren’t mere bargaining chips: It’s quite possible that, as influential figures, they’ll facilitate a broader negotiated settlement,” in Afghanistan, said Blank, a former staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Doesn't sound as though the plan is to keep them locked up in Qatar, does it?

Posted by Mandy Nagy on June 01, 2014 1 Comment
Saturday marked the one year anniversary of the Gezi Park protests that subsequently persisted for months in Turkey last year.  As many tried to gather to commemorate that anniversary, authorities responded on Saturday by blocking access to some locations and cracking down on some of the protesters. From Reuters:
Turkish police fired teargas and water cannon on Saturday to disperse protesters in central Istanbul who sought to mark the one-year anniversary of the country's biggest anti-government demonstrations in decades. Authorities closed roads and stopped public transport to deny access to Taksim Square and the adjoining Gezi Park where government plans to raze the green space and build a shopping mall sparked last year's unrest. Police lines kept back activists who had hoped to read a statement at Taksim Square and lay flowers at the park to commemorate the deaths of at least six people in the protests against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's rule. Another half-dozen people died in sporadic unrest in the ensuing months as anger at Erdogan and his AK Party simmered.
Turkish plainclothes police also harassed a CNN reporter Saturday as he was in the midst of a live broadcast. From CNN:

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 01, 2014 29 Comments
Senator Ted Cruz has been on a roll lately and he seems to be picking up steam as he goes. Conor Finnegan of CNN reported...
Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has won another straw poll, boosting his national profile and elevating his name among potential 2016 presidential contenders. The firebrand freshman senator and tea party favorite was among a handful of 2016 hopefuls speaking at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans this week. Cruz finished in first place in the annual conference's presidential straw poll at 30.33%. Dr. Ben Carson, a Fox News commentator and conservative activist, finished in second with 29.38% while Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, was third with 10.43%. Fox News host and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Texas Governor Rick Perry rounded out the top five, at 5.06% and 4.90%, respectively... Cruz's address was among the most popular. He was interrupted several times by cheers and standing ovations - especially when he told the crowd he was "convinced" the Republican Party would retake control of Congress in the midterm elections this fall.
The influence of Ted Cruz was felt in another Texas election recently. FOX News Latino reported...
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