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July 2015

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 05, 2015 32 Comments
Live Video and Twitter feeds at bottom of post. The initial results from the referendum on Greece whether to agree to an austerity plan are pointing to a huge "No" vote. The Wall Street Journal reports:
A first official projection of Greece’s referendum outcome, based on early counting, said that at least 61% of Greeks voted “no” to creditors’ demands on Sunday, an outcome that—if confirmed—would set the country on a collision course with the rest of the eurozone. The projection, announced by the company Singular Logic, the official partner of Greece’s interior ministry in carrying out the referendum, was announced after some 20% of the vote had been counted. “The estimate from Singular Logic is that the result in favor of ‘no’ will exceed 61%,” a spokesman for the organizing company said.
Official results are posted here. .

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 05, 2015 12 Comments
If there's one thing the Democratic Party could use right now, it's another aging white politician to run for the 2016 presidential nomination. Vice President Joe Biden seems ready to answer the call. Linda Feldmann of the Christian Science Monitor:
Will Joe Biden run for president? Drumbeat picks up. WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden has long harbored dreams of being president. He’s run twice before, clearly relishes political life, and has yet to rule out a third try – even as Hillary Clinton dominates in fundraising and in polls of Democrats. After the death on May 30 of Mr. Biden’s beloved elder son, Beau, such talk was put on hold. But in recent days, speculation has begun to soar. New York businessman Jon Cooper, a former Obama fundraising bundler now working on a draft effort to get Biden into the race, told the Monitor Thursday that he puts the probability of Biden running at 80 percent.

Posted by Jay Caruso on July 05, 2015 16 Comments
A professional campaign operative I know believes optics are extremely important when it comes to political candidates. Therefore, the optics of Hillary Clinton having her staff herd reporters behind a rope during a parade in New Hampshire certainly didn't look all that great. For the reporters who were there, the story became about being held behind ropes as Hillary walked the parade route:
At the Fourth of July parade Hillary Clinton marched in today in Gorham, New Hampshire, reporters following the candidate were kept -- and at moments, dragged -- behind an actual moving rope line. The rope, which two Clinton staffers held on to on either side, was meant to give Clinton space as she walked down the parade route, but photos of reporters being dragged behind the rope as she marched have gone viral on Twitter.
They certainly did. Here are a couple of them:

Posted by Amy Miller on July 05, 2015 9 Comments
2016 will be the year of the flooded field...and the foreign policy debates...and campaign propaganda that doesn't look like campaign propaganda. This week Rick Perry released a new campaign cartoon that tells the story of a frustrated little stick man who flees Obama country for the promised land of Texas. Our protagonist finds prosperity in the Lone Star State, under the watchful guidance of one Governor Rick Perry, and ends the spot by sending in a modern, slick, mobile donation to the campaign. Easy peasy! Watch:

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 05, 2015 14 Comments
Remember when Scott Brown was chastised for questioning another type of Indian candidate? He was uniformly raked over the coals by the media. When the candidate is a Republican however, their ethnicity and race are considered worthy of attack. Case in point, Annie Gowen of the Washington Post:
From Piyush to Bobby: How does Jindal feel about his family’s past? Jindal’s status as a conservative of color helped propel his meteoric rise in the Republican Party — from an early post in the George W. Bush administration to two terms in Congress and now a second term as Louisiana governor — and donors from Indian American groups fueled his first forays into politics. Yet many see him as a man who has spent a lifetime distancing himself from his Indian roots. As a child, he announced he wanted to go by the name Bobby, after a character in “The Brady Bunch.” He converted from Hinduism to Christianity as a teen and was later baptized a Catholic as a student at Brown University — making his devotion to Christianity a centerpiece of his public life. He and his wife were quick to say in a “60 Minutes” interview in 2009 that they do not observe many Indian traditions — although they had two wedding ceremonies, one Hindu and one Catholic. He said recently that he wants to be known simply as an American, not an Indian American. “There’s not much Indian left in Bobby Jindal,” said Pearson Cross, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who is writing a book on the governor.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 04, 2015 5 Comments
From all of us at Legal Insurrection, we want to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Independence Day. To celebrate, I've compiled some of THE most American things on the internet.

This weenie dog trying to save people from a roman candle

Captain America punching Hitler

captain america hitler

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 04, 2015 9 Comments
The White House released a memo for all Americans on Thursday. They want us to be sure to defend Obamacare from any disparaging family members. Sarah Ferris of The Hill:
White House: Have you talked to your family about ObamaCare lately? The Obama administration wants you to bring a side of healthcare politics to your family picnic this weekend. After ObamaCare’s big win at the Supreme Court last week, federal health officials are serving up some tips about talking to family members who may be less-than-enthused that ObamaCare is here to stay. “You should be prepared when Aunt Janine says something like, ‘Obamacare hasn’t helped anyone!’” a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a blog post on Thursday. For instance, if your Uncle Ted starts calling Obamacare a train wreck, you should calmly explain that he’s “gotten ahold of some old talking points," the spokesman recommends.

Posted by New Neo on July 04, 2015 5 Comments
I saw the film "Yankee Doodle Dandy" on TV close to 30 times when I was a child. Loved it, and in particular loved the idea that James Cagney (whom I already knew as a tough old gangster from other movies) could dance. His dancing fascinated me because it was so non-balletic and idiosyncratic---the strutting, graceful/ungraceful, artful/artless uniqueness of his movement: Cagney wasn't just an actor and hoofer, although he certainly was both. He was also a political conservative and changer. Here are some excerpts from his Wiki page:
He was sickly as a young child—so much so that his mother feared he would die before he could be baptized. He later attributed his sickness to the poverty his family had to endure... Cagney believed in hard work, later stating, "It was good for me. I feel sorry for the kid who has too cushy a time of it. Suddenly he has to come face-to-face with the realities of life without any mama or papa to do his thinking for him."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on July 04, 2015 20 Comments
Obama's USDA is urging Americans to grill fruit this July Fourth instead of the traditional hamburgers, hotdogs, and other assorted meats.  It is estimated that Americans consume about 150 million hotdogs, 700 million pounds of chicken, and 190 million pounds of red meat and pork on the Fourth of July; your government would like to change that. From The Washington Examiner:
Forget hamburgers and hotdogs — the U.S. Department of Agriculture is pushing people to grill up pineapple slices, peaches, nectarines and other fruit for their big July 4th feast. . . .  If pineapples aren't your thing, you can try other fruit. "For something sweet, toss halved peaches or nectarines on the grill and sprinkle with cinnamon," USDA suggested. If you don't want to mess with big, sloppy pieces of fruit, you can cut them into smaller pieces. "Try grilled fruit kabobs!" USDA ventured. USDA hosted a "Twitter party" this week to talk about creative, healthy ways to use their grills. "Have you tried grilled romaine, avocado, or pineapple?" USDA asked.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on July 04, 2015 5 Comments
Today marks not only United States' independence but also the anniversary of the 1976 Israeli special forces raid that freed more than 100 Israeli hostages held by the PLO in Entebbe, Uganda. As Professor Jacobson noted in 2010, it was in this raid that Prime Minister Netanyhu, then a graduate student studying in the US, lost his brother Yonatan who had led the raid and secured the safety of all but three of the hostages and all of the Israeli operatives under his command.  A truly astonishing accomplishment.  Be sure to check out the video of the heroes of Entebbe 35 years later included in the prof's 2011 post. Following is the Military Channel's documentary on the Entebbe raid and is well worth watching all the way through:

Posted by Jay Caruso on July 04, 2015 3 Comments
Americans often look to the president during certain times in our country. They look for hope in the context of tragedy, as they did to Ronald Reagan following the space shuttle Challenger disaster. They look for healing in the wake of evil, as they did with Bill Clinton after the Oklahoma City bombing. They look for resoluteness and leadership as they did with Franklin D. Roosevelt following the attack on Pearl Harbor and as they did with George W. Bush after the attacks of 9/11. Often times, Americans look to presidents to inspire: to remind Americans of the greatness of our country, both past and present. In Ronald Reagan's 1986 Independence Day address, he did just that:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 04, 2015 13 Comments
I have run the video below a number of times, starting on July 4, 2012. It's a video of Victory over Japan (VJ) Day, August 14, 1945. For some reason, it seems so appropriate to play on July 4. It was forwarded to me by reader TowsonLawyer, who wrote:
Just in time for the Fourth of July - Lost Film from 1945
Here's the story from Richard Sullivan:
67 Years Ago my Dad shot this film along Kalakaua Ave. in Waikiki capturing spontaneous celebrations that broke out upon first hearing news of the Japanese surrender. Kodachrome 16mm film: God Bless Kodachrome, right? I was able to find an outfit (mymovietransfer.com) to do a much superior scan of this footage to what I had previously posted, so I re-did this film and replaced the older version There are more still images from this amazing day, in color, at discoveringhawaii.com.
What it must have felt like.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 03, 2015 45 Comments
We have covered the slippery slope that leads to polygamist marriage many times, long before the recent Supreme Court ruling: Now there is a post-SCOTUS story about how Montana polygamist family applies for marriage license:
BILLINGS - Given the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states, a Lockwood family is now looking to solidify rights of its own. We first told you about the Colliers in January of 2015 when the polygamist family appeared on an episode of the TLC show, "Sister Wives."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 03, 2015 21 Comments
On June 30, 2015, I appeared on the Joe Thomas Show on WCHV in Charlottesville, VA, to talk about the state of the Supreme Court, and the two recent blockbuster decisions in gay marriage and Obamacare. We touched on the rulings, the reaction, and proposals to put limits on the Court, such as judicial-retention elections suggested by Ted Cruz, and proposals for term limits. The article I reference during the interview is from Roll Call, Reagan Aides Foresaw Kennedy Gay-Rights Views That Conservatives Now Lament. Bottom line: We have reached the point of absurdity when the nation waits anxiously to find out how one person -- the swing vote on the court -- will vote on issues that decide the course of the nation.
"Think how absurd it is for a nation to be waiting by the radio, or the TV, or nowadays the internet, how is the Supreme Court going to decide an issue as fundamental as the issue of marriage, and everybody knew it would come down to one vote. So we're waiting on one person to decide the future of our country, and whether you like it or not, if you like the decision, what if it had gone the other way by one vote, how would you feel? So I think we really do have a situation where so many things are decided by a single vote in the Supreme Court that we really have to wonder if that's how we want to run our lives as a nation."
Society no longer is governed by "one person, one vote," but by one person's vote. This is no way to run a country. Here's the audio below:

Posted by New Neo on July 03, 2015 21 Comments
By now you probably know that George Takei, who played Sulu in "Star Trek" and who recently married his longtime partner in a same-sex marriage, had this to say about Clarence Thomas' declaration in his dissent in the same-sex marriage case that human dignity cannot be taken away by government, even by slavery, because it is a God-given attribute inherent in being human:
TAKEI: He is a clown in black face sitting on the Supreme Court. He gets me that angry. He doesn’t belong there. And for him to say, slaves have dignity. I mean, doesn’t he know that slaves were in chains? That they were whipped on the back. If he saw the movie 12 Years a Slave, you know, they were raped. And he says they had dignity as slaves or – My parents lost everything that they worked for, in the middle of their lives, in their 30s [he is referring here to the WWII Japanese American internment camps]. His business, my father’s business, our home, our freedom and we’re supposed to call that dignified? Marched out of our homes at gun point. I mean, this man does not belong on the Supreme Court. He is an embarrassment. He is a disgrace to America.
I'm discussing this issue not because of George Takei himself, but because what he says is emblematic of the approach of the left to argument, and to the presence of black conservatives, who are considered a special affront worthy of particular contempt. This is certainly not the first time Clarence Thomas has endured insults of a specifically racist nature. Most people have focused on the "clown in black face" remark. But that's almost a distraction from the rest. Here are some of the elements of leftist argument that Takei's attack illustrates:

Posted by David Gerstman on July 03, 2015 4 Comments
Two recent articles document the multiple American capitulations to Iran in pursuit of a nuclear deal. One is Friday's column by Charles Krauthammer, which showed the numerous retreats the administration has taken from ensuring that Iran will stick to an agreement. Another is by Lee Smith, who earlier this week covered a number of retreats the administration took in allowing Iran to maintain its nuclear infrastructure. The administration's goal seems not to be preventing Iran from making a nuclear weapon but to making a deal. Iranian TV is talking tough: Krauthammer summarizes how the administration backed down from inspections, Iran's having to account for its past illicit nuclear research, as well as its generous application of sanctions relief. The matter of past nuclear work is necessary (and it's something that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei refuses discuss) in order to know the full extent of Iran's nuclear program. Here's what happened:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 03, 2015 11 Comments
The Obama administration has received sharp rebukes from federal trial and appeals courts for his post-election plan to grant DREAM Act-like status through administrative rules.   That plan, which would have granted de facto amnesty to approximately 5 million people, now is on hold until further argument this month in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. But under the radar, Obama has been accomplishing a more sweeping de facto amnesty through deliberate non-enforcement of the deportation laws.   This has not receive a lot of attention, as the nation went from one social crisis to another over the past few months. Baltimore - Charleston - Confederate Flag - Gay Marriage - Obamacare. All those and more have dominated the media and political attention for months. The Washington Post just published a report on the major policy shift deliberately, Obama administration scales back deportations in policy shift:
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