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July 2015

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 26, 2015 19 Comments
Vermont's "independent" "Socialist" Senator Bernie Sanders may have a lock on the left-wing vote but Hillary Clinton is doing everything she can to stop his rise. In so doing, the ultimate crony capitalist is demonstrating, once again, that she has no core set of beliefs other than in obtaining power. Hillary is adopting Sanders' platform attacking capitalism not because she believes it, but because she hears Bernie's footsteps gaining on her in the polls. In a recent speech at NYU, Hillary Clinton claimed that capitalism needs a reset and proposed changes to capital gains taxes. Tory Newmyer of Fortune reports:
Hillary Clinton: Capitalism is out of balance, needs a reset Hillary Clinton wants to hike capital gains taxes as part of her plan to discourage short-term thinking among corporate executives and investors. The Democratic presidential front-runner laid out her plan to retool the tax treatment of investment earnings on Friday as part of an ongoing series of speeches fleshing out her economic program. She proposed extending from one to two years the period that top earners would need to hang on to an investment before seeing the 39.6% tax rate applied to it start to fall. And she would lower the rate slowly, over a six year period, down to the 24% rate for longer-term investments — a tweak that she said would help refigure a system that’s bent itself out of shape over the last few decades. Capitalism itself, she said, “needs to be reinvented, it needs to be put back into balance.”

Posted by Leslie Eastman on July 26, 2015 20 Comments
Despite the fact that poll numbers are tanking so badly for Hillary Clinton that there is a new movement to draft Joe Biden, it turns out she has some competition for biggest drop in favorability! New numbers from Gallop for Pope Francis show a significant drop in support for the pontiff. The favorability rating is now at 59%, down from 76% in early 2014.
...The drop in the pope's favorable rating is driven by a decline among Catholics and political conservatives, two groups that have been ardent supporters of the modern papacy. Seventy-one percent of Catholics say they have a favorable image of Francis, down from 89% last year. Pope Francis' drop in favorability is even starker among Americans who identify as conservative -- 45% of whom view him favorably, down sharply from 72% last year. This decline may be attributable to the pope's denouncing of "the idolatry of money" and linking climate change partially to human activity, along with his passionate focus on income inequality -- all issues that are at odds with many conservatives' beliefs.
Why the plunge? As an independent conservative who is also Catholic, I must admit I am none too thrilled at the attacks on capitalism as a "structurally perverse" global economic system. I assert that these remarks that are too political and secular for a man who should be focused on more spiritual matters.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 26, 2015 41 Comments
When it comes to the 2016 Republican nomination, one man is currently sucking all the media oxygen out of the room. Erick Erickson of RedState blames Donald Trump's rise on a failure of leadership in the Republican Party. Matthew Continetti of the Washington Free Beacon has a similar take. When it comes to assessing Trump's politics however, one of the right's happiest and most dearly missed warriors once told us everything we need to know. Matt Vespa of Townhall takes us on a trip down memory lane:
Flashback: When Andrew Breitbart Said Trump Is Definitely Not A Conservative In 2011, Juan Williams was filling in for Bill O’Reilly and there was an area where liberal talk show host Leslie Marshall and the late Andrew Breitbart found agreement: a Trump candidacy isn’t a good thing for America. Moreover, the late conservative blogger said the business magnate is certainly not a conservative:
“…Of course, he’s not a conservative. He was for Nancy Pelosi, before he was against Nancy Pelosi…celebrity is everything in this country if these guys don’t learn how to play the media the way Barack Obama played the media last election cycle and the way that Donald Trump is playing the election cycle–we’re going to probably get a celebrity candidate.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 26, 2015 4 Comments
Amidst the Confederate battle flag hoopla, the KKK and the New Black Panther Party held dueling protests at South Carolina's capitol. From the chaos, a hero emerged. A hero bearing a sousaphone. Following KKK members to their rally, this might be the best example of real life trolling on the Internet:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 25, 2015 16 Comments
Some of you may remember my August 22, 2013 post,The Great Oberlin College Racism Hoax of 2013:
A massive racism hoax took place at Oberlin College in February 2013 in which two students made seemingly racist, anti-Semitic and other such posters, graffiti and emails for the purpose of getting a reaction on campus, not because they believed the hostile messages. At least one of the two was an Obama supporter with strong progressive, anti-racist politics. School officials and local police knew the identity of the culprits, who were responsible for most if not all of such incidents on campus, yet remained silent as the campus reacted as if the incidents were real. National media attention focused on campus racism at Oberlin for weeks without knowing it was a hoax. The hoax was confirmed when Chuck Ross of The Daily Caller recently obtained police records. Now it’s out in the open. Here is the history of how the hoax developed, played out in the media, and was covered up by the Oberlin administration.
Things would get much worse after that at Oberlin, even after the hoax was fully revealed, as we described in Oberlin racism hoax exploited to advance “even more extreme policies”. I explained the Oberlin situation in a radio interview:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on July 25, 2015 23 Comments
Ted Cruz has long criticized career politicians in both parties for not listening to the American people; indeed, he started a Twitter hashtag #MakeDCListen on this very issue and has taken to the Senate floor on a number of occasions to urge DC to listen to the people who elected them. His pleas, like ours, fall on deaf ears, but that doesn't stop him from voicing what so many of us have come to believe: Yesterday, Cruz once again took to the Senate floor to berate career politicians in both parties, particularly Republican leadership. The Washington Post reports:
Firebrand Republican senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz did something surprising in the Senate on Friday: He accused the head of his party, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of lying to his colleagues. “We know now that when the majority leader looks us in the eyes and makes an explicit commitment, that he is willing to say things that he knows are false,” Cruz (Tex.) said. “That has consequences for how this body operates.”

Posted by Amy Miller on July 25, 2015 8 Comments
This week, conservatives in Congress discovered the existence of a side agreement that renders Obama's nuclear deal with Iran even more reckless than we originally believed. During a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, it was revealed by Administration officials that, as part of the agreement between Iran and western powers, the IAEA's investigation into Iran's past nuclear activity will depend on samples collected by Iran from its own military bases. From National Review:
As a former intelligence analyst experienced in the collection of environmental samples for investigations of weapons of mass destruction, I found this allegation impossible to believe when I heard Senator James Risch (R., Idaho) make it yesterday morning.
In his questioning of administration witnesses, Risch said: Parchin stays in place. Now, does that sound like it’s for peaceful purposes? Let me tell you the worst thing about Parchin. What you guys agreed to was [that] we can’t even take samples there. The IAEA can’t take samples there. [Iranians are] going to be able to test by themselves! Even the NFL wouldn’t go along with this. How in the world can you have a nation like Iran doing their own testing? . . . Are we going to trust Iran to do this? This is a good deal? This is what we were told we were going to get when we were told, “Don’t worry, we’re going to be watching over their shoulder and we’re going to put in place verification[s] that are absolutely bullet proof”? We’re going to trust Iran to do their own testing? This is absolutely ludicrous.
The Iranians also announced they will not allow inspection of military sites. The Ayatollah knew all of this, of course, and now he's rubbing it in via Twitter (h/t Gateway Pundit) .

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on July 25, 2015 8 Comments
The failure of the Occupy movement was epic in its crash-and-burn in the wake of "occupiers" pooping on cop cars, establishing rape safety tents, displaying food privilege, and being infested with rats and disease.  As amusing as the "up and down twinkles" and mindless, robotic repetition of speakers were, the failure of the Occupy movement is worth revisiting in light of its offshoot the #BlackLivesMatter movement. One of the reasons the left was so incensed by the TEA Party, and worried enough to come after us by any means necessary, is that we are a genuine grassroots, populist movement.  While they publicly railed against our successes and worked to ridicule and bully us into submission, they were always working away at trying to duplicate (i.e. manufacture) our efforts.

Occupy is still touted as "populist," an astonishing claim that is easily refuted in that it was a clearly top-down movement funded and organized by the usual suspects.  Likewise, we know that Ferguson was another crisis the left couldn't let go to waste, so the usual suspects hired and bused in race agitators, union members, communists, anarchists, et al.   These are all the same big players in the background, pulling the strings, and they have one goal in mind, a goal that Andrew Breitbart saw for what it was:

https://twitter.com/AndrewBreitbart/status/120953881818701824

Posted by Mirabelle Ward on July 25, 2015 12 Comments
The day after Secretary of State Kerry finished negotiating his disastrous nuclear agreement with Iran, President Obama asserted that, “ninety-nine percent of the world community” supports it. Like so many of the President’s statements on this topic, this one is both false and irrelevant. Our culturally closest friend, Canada, has already stated that it intends to keep its own sanctions on Iran in place. India’s defense establishment, meanwhile, is concerned and preparing for a Middle East arms race. Saudi Arabia may be the only Arab state that has openly opposed it, however, the other Persian Gulf nations have also indicated their disapproval. In Israel, opposition comes not only from Prime Minister Netanyahu, as Obama would have us believe, but from across the political spectrum.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 25, 2015 14 Comments
Jon Stewart isn't a Social Justice Warrior for the left, he's a four-star general. In his many years as the host of the Daily Show, he's never backed away from an opportunity to make conservatives look like backwards, racist hicks. Now one of his former staff writers named Wyatt Cenac, who is black, has come forward with allegations which make Stewart look rather hypocritical in hindsight. Cenac claims that when Stewart used a stereotypical black voice to lampoon Republican Herman Cain, he objected and was screamed at in front of other writers. Deadline Hollywood reports:
When Jon Stewart’s Black Impersonation Crossed The Line For ‘Daily Show’ Scribe Wyatt Cenac On a recent episode of WTF With Marc Maron, former Daily Show writer Wyatt Cenac recalled a moment when host Jon Stewart exploded at him in front of the entire late night show’s staff. It all pertained to Stewart’s imitation of 2012 Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain; an impersonation that just went too far for Cenac. At the time prior to the 2012 presidential election, Cenac was the only black writer and found Stewart’s knock on Cain coming from “kind of an ignorant place.”...

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 25, 2015 35 Comments
If you listen to Hillary Clinton and the mainstream media, you might think Planned Parenthood is a victim and not the unborn babies whose organs were harvested and bargained over like a bunch of spare parts. Our watchdog media hasn't thrust a microphone into Mrs. Clinton's face asking for comment like they would do with Republicans, they've just allowed her to address the scandal on her own terms, and in Hillary's world, it's Planned Parenthood which needs defending. Here's a recent report from Alex Seitz-Wald at NBC News:
Hillary Clinton Defends Embattled Planned Parenthood Hillary Clinton strongly defended Planned Parenthood Thursday as the women's health organization reels from the fallout over a sting video released by anti-abortion activists earlier this month.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 25, 2015 4 Comments
Thursday evening I joined Red State's Leon Wolf and his panel of lovely gentlemen for the weekly vcast of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Friends. Over wine and cocktails, we discussed the Sandra Bland incident, Planned Parenthood's baby part harvesting, and 2016. We began by discussing Sandra Bland and the circumstances that ultimately lead to her death. Are the police responsible? Were there other mitigating factors? What kind of power have we given the police when an improper lane change leads to arrest? Should we be having a broader discussion about mental health? These are some of the questions we tackled. I maintain that equally as important as the police power angle, is the mental health discussion that seems to be getting far less attention.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 24, 2015 20 Comments
If decent people staffed Planned Parenthood, you wouldn't be seeing much of the organization right now. They'd be hiding out after having what any reasonable person would describe as the worst week ever. Outed as baby killers and organ brokers-for-profit, on camera, with shock videos accompanied by uncut footage? If it were me, I'd be hiding under a desk somewhere. Planned Parenthood, however, is not staffed by decent people, and they aren't keeping their heads down. Instead, they decided to use a lighthearted, innocent cartoon to rally support for their butchery. Blech: Leave. My Minions. Alone.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 24, 2015 14 Comments
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $70 million dollars during the 2014 election cycle to protect the Republican majority in the House, and build a majority in the Senate. Their push worked---as far as getting Republican senators elected was concerned---but the group still hasn't seen a payoff when it comes to getting their agenda through Congress. The problem? Conservative incumbents in the House who have been successful in blocking the Chamber's favorite policy initiatives. According to sources on the Hill and in the lobbying community, the Chamber is gearing up for a tactical switch that will focus on challenging House GOP incumbents that have shown resistance to backing the Chamber's agenda. Common sense tells us that this could go one of three ways: it could work flawlessly, it could backfire, or it could backfire spectacularly by working at the expense of what little support the Chamber still manages to gain from the conservative base. If I were placing bets, I'd put my money on this backfiring spectacularly. Still, the Chamber is putting on a confident face and appears ready to start naming names.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 24, 2015 24 Comments
Are you ridin' with Biden in 2016? If you're reading this article, chances are you're not; but if you're a Democrat, and you're on the fence about who to support in the upcoming primary battle, there's a super-PAC that would like a few minutes of your time. The prospect of a Biden presidential run feels like a fever dream (or nightmare, depending on how easily amused by political theatre you are.) Since he first took his place as Vice President in 2009, Biden has defined himself not by savvy policy moves, but by behavior that likens him more to America's Crazy Uncle Joe than America's #2 Leader. Still, his believers are out there in the form of the Draft Biden PAC, and they're starting a major grassroots push aimed at convincing the Vice President to make a run for the Oval Office. Watch:

Posted by Andrew Branca on July 24, 2015 180 Comments
So there's another notable arrest in the news, that of black woman Sandra Bland by white Texas patrol officer, and thus we have yet another "teachable moment" in non-compliance to lawful police orders. (Note that I address here only Bland's arrest--I've no particular insight into her death three days later while in custody.  Also, I limit my points to the issue of legality, as opposed to procedure or policy.) Thanks to the officer's dash-cam, almost all of the interaction between him and Bland is captured on video.  If you haven't seen it, here it is: Now that is a free lesson in how not to act during a traffic stop if you don't want to get yourself arrested. As usual, there's a considerable amount of outrage being expressed by people who possess a very limited practical and theoretical understanding of the laws and dynamics governing arrest.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 24, 2015 42 Comments
When the Hillary Clinton email scandal first broke, Hillary's claims that she conducted her entire job as Secretary of State without classified information being transmitted through her private server and email account did not seem plausible to me. I said at the time that there was a Bigger Question: Did Hillary use unsecured email for Classified Info?:
As Secretary of State, Hillary presumably received classified and other protected information via email at least on occasion, since it was her only email account. That distinguishes her from predecessors, who at least had government email accounts. We need more facts on her usage, but if Hillary maintained classified documents (including emails) on an unclassified computer device and email account, that could raise much more serious issues than the records violation.... As Hillary heads towards the presumptive Democratic nomination for President, we need to know what Hillary did with her email account, and when did she do it.
Initially, the press accepted at face value Hillary's claim that there was no transmission of classified information from her private server/email account. https://youtu.be/uNgsze5yjG0?t=360 Slowly, it has been revealed that Yes, Hillary’s emails did contain classified information.
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