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March 2015

Posted by Jay Caruso on March 24, 2015 35 Comments
Texas Senator Ted Cruz became the first "official" contender to announce he is running for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. One of the more bizarre narratives to quickly form after Cruz made his announcement, has been the comparison between him and President Barack Obama. While there are some similarities --- both first term Senators, both graduates of Harvard, both are prone to more grandiose type speeches and both lacked executive experience, that's where the comparison really ends. However, there are some who arguing Ted Cruz being a first term Senator leads to him being a bad President, were he to win the nomination and ultimately the election in 2016. This accusation is not just being thrown around by random people on social media. It's appearing in Commentary Magazine. After listing a handful of points of comparison between Cruz and Obama the post concludes:
In short, Ted Cruz is not, except for his highly distinguished academic career and legal clerkships, dissimilar to the present incumbent of the White House. It seems to me that the last thing this country needs come January 20th, 2017, is a right-wing Barack Obama.
Charles Krauthammer made a similar point on Fox News during Special Report saying, "We already tried a first term Senator." 

Posted by Miriam Elman on March 24, 2015 5 Comments
Between July 17 and August 5 of2014, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroyed 32 tunnels in Gaza — 100 kilometers of concrete-lined and accessorized passageways dug deep beneath the earth’s surface with openings near Israeli homes and kindergartens. Hamas murdered dozens of the nearly 900 diggers in its employ, fearing that they might reveal the tunnel locations to the advancing Israeli army. This vast tunnel project, estimated to have cost some $90 million, was designed to dispatch an invasion force of thousands. In one of the tunnels the IDF found half a dozen motorcycles which would’ve been used to ferry terrorists into Israel, and bring Israeli hostages out. Hamas Gaza Tunnel NYT video These lesser known facts, and hundreds more, are compiled into a new report on the 2014 Gaza War, released last week by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), an Israel-based think tank headed by Dore Gold, Israel’s former ambassador to the UN who also served as an advisor to PM Benjamin Netanyahu during his first term in the 1990s. A must-read document, written by the JCPA’s team of legal, military, media, and diplomatic experts, it details what really happened in this war that Israel never wanted, and the disaster that it miraculously averted. Warning: the document is long and dense; it’s not something you can cover in an hour, or even a day. But it’s well worth taking the time to read. The document includes hundreds of hyperlinks to relevant sources and video clips. There’s one of Hamas calling for Israel’s destruction, and another of terrorists infiltrating Israel.

Posted by Amy Miller on March 23, 2015 31 Comments
Earlier this month I wrote a lengthy but necessary breakdown of Texas' "Cop Watcher" bill. Sponsored by Dallas-area House representative Jason Villalba, HB 2918 as filed would have changed the way activists and citizen journalists are allowed to interact with police officers. Almost immediately after the bill was filed, Villalba came under fire from local and national activists who said that the bill was too restrictive and destroyed the ability for citizens to hold police accountable. Under pressure from constituents, activists, and his own colleagues, Villalba now appears amenable to amending---but not pulling---the controversial bill:
"I will not consider pulling this bill but what I will do is considerably rewrite it," the North Dallas Republican said during a taping of WFAA's Inside Texas Politics to air Sunday morning at 9:00. Villalba appeared on the program to explain House Bill 2918 that makes it a misdemeanor to photograph police within 25 feet of them. News media was excluded. During the taping, Villalba said he will reduce the distance to 15 feet but make it apply to everyone, including journalists. "All we're saying is provide [police] a halo. Give them a little room. We're not saying don't film. We're not saying stop. We're saying just step back a little bit," explained Villalba.

Posted by Amy Miller on March 23, 2015 6 Comments
The controversial National Front party lost ground to former president Nicolas Sarkozy's center-right UMP party and their allies in the first round of the French elections on Sunday. UMP took 32% of the vote, with Marine Le Pen's National Front (FN) trailing at 26%. Current president Francis Hollande's Socialists came in third with 21% of the vote. All is not said and done for the resurgent Sarkozy, who still has to face a second round of elections on March 29, but it does signal to Hollande's majority that the French people could be ready for change. Don't look for a winning alliance between UMP and the FN, though. From Reuters:
Sarkozy immediately ruled out any alliances between his party and FN candidates in next Sunday's second round, which will decide who controls France's "departements", one level in France's complex multi-layered system of local government. "To those who voted National Front, we understand your frustrations," UMP chairman Sarkozy told supporters at party headquarters. "But this party will not solve France's problems - it will only make them worse," added the ex-president, who came out of retirement last year and hopes to secure the 2017 presidential ticket for his bitterly divided party in primaries next year.

Posted by Amy Miller on March 23, 2015 6 Comments
Yesterday the United Nations Security Council met in a rare Sunday meeting to discuss the devolving political and social situation in Yemen. What does that mean? It means that United Nations Special Adviser Jamal Benomar said a lot of words:
“Emotions are running extremely high and, unless solutions can be found, the country will fall into further violent confrontations,” Mr. Benomar declared. “Events in Yemen are leading the country away from political settlement and to the edge of civil war.” Meanwhile, pre-empting criticism of the UN-brokered political talks, the UN envoy also admitted that the international community had no other alternative but to continue in its calls for restraint, de-escalate the situation, and engage all sides, including Yemen's 12 political parties and the Houthis, in the political process. “I urge all sides in this time of rising tension and inflammatory rhetoric to appreciate the gravity of the situation and deescalate by exercising maximum restraint,” Mr. Benomar concluded. “Peaceful dialogue is the only way forward.”
I'm not going to sit here at my laptop and pretend that anything the UN did on Sunday even comes close to mattering. It was over the moment Benomar used the word "emotions." "Emotions" are not "running high." The US was forced to pull all remaining security forces out of the country amid a growing security disaster---and this happened after our first withdrawal and subsequent loss of half a billion dollars worth of military aid. Right now, Iranian-backed rebels are in control of key locations in a country once controlled by a western-backed government. The Yemeni al Qaeda cell is making moves internationally. ISIS has claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings that killed over a hundred people, and wounded over three hundred. Oh, and Iran just did an arms dump benefiting Houthi rebels, and is making moves to seize more control over Yemen's infrastructure:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 23, 2015 18 Comments
The seminal case in the fight against 'rape culture' ended today, leaving a giant, gaping hole in the Rape Culture agenda. An investigation conducted by the Charlottesville Police Department found no evidence of rape at the accused University of Virginia fraternity. Months ago, Rolling Stone broke Jackie's story. Jackie claimed she'd been gang raped by members of Phi Kappa Psi in 2012. When the Rolling Stone article sparked national outrage, UVA's administration acted swiftly and without facts, punishing Greek life on campus. Then the Washington Post began to dig deeper into the Rolling Stone shocker. And that's when the story began to quickly unravel and was eventually debunked in entirety. Today, the New York Times reports:
“I can’t prove that something didn’t happen, and there may come a point in time in which this survivor, or this complaining party or someone else, may come forward with some information that might help us move this investigation further,” Police Chief Timothy Longo told a roomful of reporters here. “That doesn’t mean that something terrible did not happen to Jackie on the evening of Sept. 28, 2012,” Chief Longo said, referring to the accuser and adding that his department was simply unable to corroborate her account. He added, “This case is not closed by any stretch of the imagination.”

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 23, 2015 25 Comments
If there were an award for ill-conceived marketing campaigns, 'Race Together' would earn the gold. Starbucks' latest social justice endeavor that encouraged baristas to engage customers in conversations about race came to a resounding halt Sunday. One week after its launch, the corporate coffee behemoth decided to cancel the first phase of 'Race Together' after receiving tremendous negative backlash. Amazingly, consumers don't enjoy being told they're racist while ordering a cup of coffee. Who knew? According to the Associated Press, 'Race Together' is not ending, it's merely moving into the next marketing phase.
The campaign has been criticized as opportunistic and inappropriate, coming in the wake of racially charged events such as national protests over police killings of black males. Others questioned whether Starbucks workers could spark productive conversations about race while serving drinks. The phase-out is not a reaction to that pushback, Olson said. "Nothing is changing. It's all part of the cadence of the timeline we originally planned." He echoed the company memo, saying of the Race Together initiative, "We're leaning into it hard."
Riiiiiight. While customers won't be badgered by baristas, Starbucks plans to move forward with ads in USA TODAY, in-store placards, and also plans to open more stores in minority communities, reports the AP. Doubling down on a universally despised marketing campaign? Ok, then.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 23, 2015 35 Comments
Shortly after midnight last night, Senator Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for President via Twitter. Today, Senator Cruz kicked off his presidential campaign at Liberty University. Of the many things I learned about Cruz in his 2012 Senatorial bid, one to keep in mind is that the man is nothing if not deliberate. Cruz gave a great speech (he never gives bad speeches), but his campaign launch was littered with several liberty-embellished easter eggs. The result? Some masterfully executed trolling.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 23, 2015 12 Comments
The talk of forming a ruling coalition is over -- at latest count, the Likud-led coalition has 67 Knesset seats (61 needed for majority) pledged to it, as The Times of Israel reports this morning:
With [Avigdor] Liberman’s (unsurprising) endorsement, Prime Minister Netanyahu has 67 MKs, representing six parties (Likud, Jewish Home, Kulanu, Shas, UTJ and Yisrael Beytenu), while Isaac Herzog wins only the endorsement of his own party. The Joint (Arab) List and Yesh Atid did not recommend any of the candidates. Meretz, yet to meet the president, is likely to recommend Herzog, but by then it would be a purely technical move, since Netanyahu already has a clear majority. Liberman says he want the defense portfolio, a demand Netanyahu is likely to reject.
Shmuel Rosner has another excellent column taking progressive American Jews to task for their disappointment, American Jews are disappointed with Israel’s election? Tough luck:
This happens every time the Israeli electorate decides to elect a government that is right of center.... When Ariel Sharon was elected in 2002, The Guardian reported that “Sharon divides world’s Jews”. When PM Ehud Olmert visited President Bush in the White House in 2006, the Jewish Forward editorialized that “for American Jews, this was one visit by an Israeli prime minister that drove home the distance between the two great Jewish communities, not their closeness”.

Posted by David Gerstman on March 23, 2015 9 Comments
The nuclear negotiations between the West and Iran may have reached an impasse over the timing of Iran getting relief from sanctions. This is how The Guardian broke down the differences between the United States and the French on Friday:
Diplomats say the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, telephoned the French delegation in Lausanne to ensure it did not make further concessions, and to insist that the bulk of UN sanctions could only be lifted if Iran gave a full explanation of evidence suggesting it may have done development work on nuclear warhead design in the past.  ... The US offer on sanctions is to lift UN sanctions in layers in return each “irreversible” step Iran makes to scale down and limit its nuclear programme. There would be mechanisms in place by which sanctions would “spring back” if Iran violated the agreement, without the need for consensus in the UN security council. It is broadly supported by the UK and Germany, while Russia and China, the other members of the six-nation group, would offer more generous terms. Tehran is reluctant to accept sanctions relief based on milestones, but diplomats say the French position would be a complete deal-breaker. They say the Iranians would be very unlikely to admit past weapons work, which if revealed would demonstrate that the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, had misled the world. Better, US diplomats argue, to focus on limiting the current Iranian programme and worry about allegations about the past a few years down the road.
Focus on the current issues and leave the allegations for the future? Are they crazy? Let's take a couple of paragraphs from United Nations Security Council Resolution 1696, which was passed in July 2006 and was the first of six resolutions passed against Iran for its violations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation treaty.

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 22, 2015 10 Comments
In an appearance on ABC News, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul made a disturbing announcement. Joel Gehrke of National Review:
Homeland Security Chair: ISIS Terrorists Are ‘Here In The United States’ ISIS terrorists are “here in the United States,” according to House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R., Texas), who believes it “would not be so difficult” for them to stage an attack. “Well, we have the foreign fighters. There are about 30,000 of them, 5,000 with Western passports according to the DNI, Clapper, 180 have returned or gone to the region. And we have a — a number that I can’t disclose publicly,” McCaul said on ABC. “They’re here in the United States,” he continued.
Watch the exchange:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 22, 2015 9 Comments
As the arbitrary deadline to strike a deal with Iran draws close, Secretary Kerry says "genuine progress" has been made. France is not so sure the negotiations are going well, and neither is Israel. Both nations share concerns that Iran is receiving far too many concessions, saying any rush to relax sanctions is not a deal worth making. While talks proceed, and Kerry attempts to assures America with platitudes, Senator Cotton reminds us who we're negotiating with: Regardless of what Secretary Kerry tells the Associated Press, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader is not exactly a fan of Obama, America, or any deal that doesn't remove sanctions. And if you need more proof, look no further than than the Ayatollah's Twitter feed.

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 22, 2015 10 Comments
We have documented the rise of anti-Semitism throughout Europe, including the problem of Walking While Jewish, No Jew Go Zones, and the attacks on Jewish institutions, such as a Paris Synagogue. Add another incident to the list. London police responded to an attack on a synagogue last night as a mob of drunk people smashed windows and tried to force their way inside, with shouts of "kill the Jews" heard. The Telegraph reports:
A drunken mob of more than 20 thugs shouted "kill the Jews" as they stormed into a north London synagogue while young worshippers celebrated the end of the sabbath. The anti-Semitic abuse was hurled by the group of men and women as they first beat up a young man outside before chasing him inside, breaking windows and attacking others.
The Times of Israel reports:
Six men were arrested in London early Sunday morning after a large crowd of party revelers attacked a synagogue, breaking windows and trying to forcing their way inside According to The Mirror tabloid, trouble started after an intoxicated gang of around 20 young men and women, who had been at a party in a nearby house, tried to enter the synagogue on Craven Park Road in the heart of London’s Stamford Hill area, home to Europe’s largest ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. One Jewish man suffered light injuries to his face as he tried to prevent the gang from entering the premises. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Posted by Amy Miller on March 22, 2015 29 Comments
Remember Austin's "White People Only" sticker controversy? Last week, shop owners came in to find that their businesses had been branded with stickers bearing the Austin city seal and proclaiming that the premises were “exclusively for white people.” When the racially-charged stickers started popping up unsolicited on businesses all over the east side of town, police and city officials were hard-pressed to figure out which make and model of social justice warrior was responsible. Until now, at least. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. Austin lawyer and self-proclaimed "DWI badass" Adam Reposa has claimed responsibility for the stickers. He says he was trying to "raise awareness" about the issue of gentrification in Austin's traditionally minority-dominated communities. KXAN has the story:
“They’re getting pushed out, and pretty quick. This area of town is turning into white’s only,” Reposa said in the clip. “Not by law like it used to be, and everyone’s going to jump on, ‘that’s racist!’ ‘that’s racist!’ Man, this town, the way **** works is racist! And I knew I could just bait all of y’all into being as stupid as you are.” Reposa went on to blast people for not getting the message.
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