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September 2014

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 26, 2014 52 Comments
A woman was beheaded by a fired co-worker, who recently had been trying to convert co-workers to Islam. Because the ISIS beheadings are so much in the news, one has to wonder if the perp was motivated by those beheadings, as opposed to "going postal" and using a firearm or just stabbing people. From USA Today:
A newly fired employee at a food processing plant in Moore, Okla., allegedly stabbed and beheaded a 54-year-old front office worker, police said Friday, according to local media. Police said the FBI was asked for assistance in the case because of the "manner of death" of the victim and reports from co-workers that the suspect, 30-year-old Alton Nolen, had recently started trying to convert several employees to Islam. Nolen had just been fired from Vaughan Foods on Thursday afternoon when he drove to the front of the building, hit another vehicle and walked inside, according to police, KFOR-TV reports. "Nolen encountered (fellow worker Colleen) Hufford with a knife," said Sgt. Jeremy Lewis with the Moore Police Department. "During the attack, Nolen severed the victims head."
Local television reports:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 26, 2014 9 Comments
Brian Leiter is the pugnacious U. Chicago philosophy and law professor, whose claim to fame is his blog ranking of philosophy departments, and to a much lesser extent, law schools.  We touched on Leiter before with regard to his attacks on Prof. Glenn Reynolds and other "right-wing" law professor bloggers with whom Leiter politically disagrees. An interesting side-light is that Leiter has been one of the most vocal supporters of Steven Salaita, the anti-Israel professor whose anti-Israel, and arguably anti-Semitic, tweets caused the University of Illinois Board of Trustees to deny him a tenured position. Among other things, Leiter wrote a blog post at Huffington Post that got a lot of attention because Leiter declared that UI-UC had repealed the First Amendment.   There are important issues that a court may have to sort out, but to proclaim the university's concerns a repeal of the First Amendment is pure hyperbole. In a further post at his own blog, Leiter opined that Salaita had a strong "promissory estoppel" claim, because some unnamed professors told him so at lunch. I guess the legal argument in court would go something like this: Your Honor, you must ignore the contingent provision in the offer requiring Board approval because that's what some people told Brian Leiter at lunch. Leiter announced on his blog that he was boycotting UI-UC:

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 26, 2014 17 Comments
Upon hearing the news of Eric Holder's resignation from the Department of Justice yesterday, NBC's Chuck Todd took to the airwaves and claimed that Holder is a very non-political person. Media bias is one thing. The utter dismissal of reality is another. Brendan Bordelon of National Review has the details:
NBC’s Chuck Todd: Self-Professed Activist Eric Holder ‘a Very Non-Political Person’ The host of NBC’s Meet the Press considers resigning attorney general Eric Holder — who once proudly declared himself an “activist attorney general,” called America a “nation of cowards” about race and took heat from his own White House for pursuing politically sensitive initiatives –  ”a very non-political person.” “He did a lot of the tough stuff that you would say, ‘Hey, the attorney general has to do tough stuff, this is not a forgiving job, you have to do tough stuff,’” Chuck Todd told MSNBC’s Tamron Hall on Thursday. “But, what’s interesting about him, he is a very non-political person. And I think people used to mistakenly think that this guy was this long-time political operative who happened to be an attorney general. That’s not him at all.”
Todd's declaration set off a firestorm on Twitter.

Posted by Amy Miller on September 26, 2014 45 Comments
Will the third time be a charm for Mitt Romney? In a CNN poll run earlier this summer, 53% of Americans said that if the 2012 election were held today, they would vote for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama. (Obama managed to pull in 44% of respondents.) This poll, coupled with a few teasers from interviews with Romney himself, have refueled rumors that Romney is quietly preparing himself for another run at the Presidency. Via Byron York of the Washington Examiner:
That belief is wrong. Romney is talking with advisers, consulting with his family, keeping a close eye on the emerging '16 Republican field, and carefully weighing the pluses and minuses of another run. That doesn't mean he will decide to do it, but it does mean that Mitt 2016 is a real possibility. ... A significant number of Romney's top financial supporters from 2012 have decided not to commit to any other 2016 candidate until they hear a definitive word from Romney. They believe they are doing it with the tacit approval of Romney himself. "Spencer Zwick has never said specifically to everyone to keep your powder dry," says the plugged-in supporter, referring to Romney's former finance chairman who remains very close to Romney. "But the body language, the intonation, and the nuance are absolutely there." So far, Romney's most dedicated supporters do not believe that his disavowals have been anywhere near definitive. They were particularly encouraged in late August, when Romney, in the middle of explaining to radio host Hugh Hewitt why he decided not to run in 2016, seemed -- at Hewitt's prodding -- to open the door just a bit by adding that "circumstances can change."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 26, 2014 20 Comments

inside that Cheesehead's head....

Posted by Andrew Branca on September 25, 2014 30 Comments
The re-trial of Michael Dunn began today "for real", with the jury impanelled and the state and defense presenting their opening statements.   Dunn is on trial for the killing of Jordan Davis, a black teenager Dunn fired upon during a confrontation with Davis and three of Davis' friends, who were sitting in their SUV.  Dunn claimed self-defense, arguing that Davis pointed a shotgun-like object at him, threatened to kill him, and began to exit the SUV to attack him. It was only then, Dunn claimed, that he retrieved his handgun from the glove compartment of his car and fired on the SUV. Complicating Dunn's defense were the facts that he fled the scene, that he never contacted police, and that nobody observed the purported threatening actions of the people in the SUV except for Dunn. Dunn was convicted at the first trial of three counts of attempted second degree murder, but the jury hung on the second degree murder count with respect to Jordan Davis, the only one of the SUV passengers injured in the shooting.

Posted by Casey Breznick on September 25, 2014 6 Comments
Remember my post a week ago about Martha Robertson's visit to Cornell and the accompanying media lockdown enforced by the Cornell Democrats? Video and audio recording were not permitted, according to an announcement just before Robertson started her speech. I attended but did not record because of those rules and how watchful Cornell Democrats were to ensure compliance. A videographer for Cornell's main student newspaper, the Daily Sun, managed to take video, a nearly two-minute long clip of which was published on the Daily Sun's website two days later. But the Daily Sun's video was not just by chance. After learning of the existence of the video, I immediately contacted the Sun videographer, asking if she obtained prior permission. She said she did from both the Cornell Democrats club and the Martha Robertson Campaign. She went on to tell me that she worked for the Robertson campaign as an intern. Then it all clicked. Those video and audio recording rules were a ruse meant to avoid embarrassing video clips, like the one Professor Jacobson videotaped at a Robertson appearance at Cornell last spring.  If only a campaign intern could record, then any embarrassing clips would never see the light of day. Both the videographer and the Cornell Democrats president are in this image of interns tweeted by Robertson earlier this month:

Posted by Amy Miller on September 25, 2014 15 Comments
Eric Holder has officially resigned as United States Attorney General. In a statement last hour, Holder officially announced his resignation, and pledged to continue the work he began during his years at the Department of Justice. Via Politico:
President Barack Obama praised Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday saying Holder has worked for decades "to make sure that those words, 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' are made real for all of us." "Soon, Eric, Sharon and their kids will be a bit freer to pursue a little more happiness of their own, and thanks to Eric's efforts, so will more Americans," Obama said from the White House, with Holder, who announced Thursday that he was planning to step down, standing at his side. Obama said Holder did a "superb job" and called the moment "bittersweet." Holder, who grew emotional during his remarks, thanked Obama, as well as Vice President Joe Biden, senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett and those who worked in the Justice Department. "The work remains to be done, but the list of our accomplishments is real," Holder said.

Posted by Andrew Branca on September 25, 2014 76 Comments
A South Carolina prosecutor's office has released dash-camera video of the September 4 shooting by Police Officer Sean Groubert of Levar Edward in a gas station parking lot. It appears that Edward was in good faith simply complying with Groubert's demands for identification, but in a manner that led Groubert to believe that Edward was lunging for a weapon. The good news: the shooting victim, Edward, was not killed. The bad news: just about everything else. Here's the dash-camera footage:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 25, 2014 35 Comments
Eric Holder will step down today as Attorney General, at least according to NPR. Sources told NPR that Holder plans to remain in his post until a replacement has been confirmed:

Eric Holder Jr., the nation's first black U.S. attorney general, is preparing to announce his resignation Thursday after a tumultuous tenure marked by civil rights advances, national security threats, reforms to the criminal justice system and five and a half years of fights with Republicans in Congress.

Two sources familiar with the decision tell NPR that Holder, 63, intends to leave the Justice Department as soon as his successor is confirmed, a process that could run through 2014 and even into next year. A former U.S. government official says Holder has been increasingly "adamant" about his desire to leave soon for fear he otherwise could be locked in to stay for much of the rest of President Obama's second term.

In April, Holder indicated he would not resign until after the midterm elections. Potential replacements are, as of yet, unclear. His tenure with the Department of Justice has been controversial at best, and at its worst, deadly. His radical "civil rights" agenda won't be missed by most, but Holder hopes the history books will remember him as a hero:

Posted by Andrew Branca on September 25, 2014 1 Comment
I was interviewed by Chris Samples of KXDJ radio, way WAY up in the Texas panhandle, on the subject of (naturally) self-defense law.  This radio interview was triggered by the recent scheduling of a Law of Self Defense Seminar up in the Amarillo area of the Lone Star State. I don't have the entire interview recorded, but KXDJ was kind enough to send me a couple of brief portions, and Professor Jacobson has been kind enough to let me share them with you. Because these two clips are somewhat removed from the broader context of the interview as a whole (in particular, they each start off with my reply to a question you can't hear), I'll try to set them up a bit.

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 25, 2014 8 Comments
When it comes to the (former?) War on Terror, the media has already been caught furiously spinning legitimate news stories in order to set Obama apart from his predecessor. While the revisionism of the New York Times was remarkable, Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast deserves an honorable mention:
Obama’s Iraq Is Not Bush’s Iraq Last week, a Politico reporter phoned me to ascertain my thoughts on the new war. Among the questions: Was there concern among liberals that Barack Obama was in some sense now becoming George Bush, and did I see similarities between the current war and Bush’s Iraq war that, come on, be honest, made me squirm in my seat ever so slightly? My answer ended up on the cutting-room floor, as many answers given to reporters do. But since I’m fortunate enough to have a column, I’d like to broadcast it now, because the answer is a reverberating no. In fact it’s hard for me to imagine how the differences between the two actions could be starker. This is not to say that they might not end up in the same place—creating more problems than they solve. But in moral terms, this war is nothing like that war, and if this war doesn’t end up like Bush’s and somehow actually solves more problems than it creates, that will happen precisely because of the moral differences.

Posted by Andrew Branca on September 25, 2014 30 Comments
There's been some video surveillance footage released of the arrest of Charles Smith, the 29-year-old paroled convict who was arrested by police on 7 outstanding warrants and then shot and killed when he allegedly threatened the officers with a hidden firearm. The footage comes from within and immediately outside the convenience store in which Smith was arrested.  The outside footage isn't of much interest, as it merely shows the handcuffed Smith being placed into the rear of a patrol car, and ends before his later violent actions occurred. The interior footage, however, is interesting on a couple of points.  The first, shorter piece of video shows Smith at the checkout counter of the convenience store as he talks with the clerk, with the camera placed above and behind him.  Two officers walk through the front door and seek to place Smith under arrest.  The 6' 7" paroled convict with a history of deadly-force violence and flight from police is immediately non-compliant, and it takes a third officer participating to finally secure a resistant Smith.  The video ends when the handcuffed Smith is led out of the convenience store. Here's that first video:

Posted by Andrew Branca on September 24, 2014 75 Comments
Shaneen Allen has, thankfully, received a reprieve, reports Philly.com.  Allen is the Philadelphia-area nurse who, after being mugged in the course of the odd hours her job demands, sought and obtained a license to carry a concealed firearm. Philadelphia, of course, is only a bridge-crossing away from New Jersey, a state far more parsimonious in its recognition of our Second Amendment rights.  And that's where Ms. Allen got into trouble. While driving in New Jersey, just over the Delaware, Allen was pulled over for an "unsafe lane change." In obtaining her concealed carry permit she had been instructed that if she were ever pulled over while in possession of her licensed firearm she should inform the officer of both her license and her handgun.  Perhaps good advice for someone possessing a Pennsylvania license and pulled over in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, unlike driver's licenses, concealed carry permits are not automatically recognized by other states.  There must generally be some formal agreement in place between the states, or a broad statutory provision allowing for such recognition. New Jersey has none of these.  As a result, unknown to Allen, her Philadelphia concealed carry permit was worthless in New Jersey. She may as well have not had a permit at all, as far as the Garden State was concerned.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 24, 2014 10 Comments
It just never stops with the Martha Robertson campaign and its TV ads in NY-23, my home district. Robertson's "fat shaming" ads mocking incumbent Tom Reed gained national attention, for all the wrong reasons. http://www.mytwintiers.com/story/d/story/republicans-claim-robertson-fat-shaming-reed-with/55514/gKeceoroN0aKL7Mek9eXJA#.U_UyYlwqEOA.twitter Her ads also suffered bad truthfulness ratings. Now AARP is calling out Robertson for improperly using AARP's name in her ads, violating AARPs non-partisan status and falsely implying that AARP has taken sides in the race. The Elmira Star Gazette Reports:
AARP in New York issued an objection Wednesday to congressional candidate Martha Robertson’s use of the association’s name and logo in a campaign ad. Beth Finkel, state director for AARP in New York, issued a statement after learning of its name and logo appearing in the Ithaca Democrat’s campaign ads in the race for the 23rd Congressional District seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning. “AARP does not endorse candidates or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates,” Finkel said. “AARP did not authorize the use of its name or logo in currently running Martha Robertson campaign ads.” Contacted for comment, Seth Stein, Robertson’s communications director, issued the following statement: “The campaign’s ad in no way says that Martha has received the endorsement of the AARP, but simply cites them when discussing Congressman Tom Reed’s policies ....” The AARP logo appears in one segment of the 30-second ad.
Here is the offending ad:
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