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July 2015

Posted by Amy Miller on July 16, 2015 45 Comments
Horror in Chattanooga today---four Marines dead, a soldier and police officer wounded, and a city in chaos. Five people have died after a lone attacker unleashed a spray of gunfire at two separate military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee. CNN (as well as every other mainstream media outlet) are running live updates:
Four Marines were killed in Thursday's shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a senior defense official told CNN's Barbara Starr. The families of those killed are being notified of their deaths, the official said. The suspected shooter is also dead, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said Investigators "have not determined whether it was an act of terrorism or whether it was a criminal act," FBI special agent in charge Ed Reinhold told reporters. "We are looking at every possible avenue, whether it was terrorism -- whether it was domestic, international -- or whether it was a simple, criminal act." U.S. Attorney Bill Killian earlier told reporters that authorities were treating the shooting as an "act of domestic terrorism."
The identity of the shooter has been confirmed:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on July 16, 2015 10 Comments
Indian newspapers generally echoed Western sentiments by welcoming the Iran deal and India's Foreign Office also took a line similar to the one taken by the EU and other Western powers. But behind the scenes, India is  getting ready for the coming nuclear arms race in their Arab neighbourhood. Far from buying President Obama's optimism over the 'peace dividend', Indian defence establishment is building up its nuclear defence capabilities. In recent months, India has invested heavily in ramping up missile defences. With Israeli expertise, India will soon be able to detect and intercept missiles within the range of 5,000 km – double the aerial distance between New Delhi and Tehran. As President Obama was announcing the Iran deal to the world, Indian government was busy clearing new defence deals worth billions. Indian News website Firstpost reports:

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 16, 2015 7 Comments
After a full month of drama, Greece and its creditors finally agreed on a multi-billion dollar bailout package. One of the bailout's most controversial conditions is a list of new austerity measures, and we all know how many Greeks feel about those. Anti-austerity violence broke out on the streets of Athens last night. Megan Specia of Mashable reported:
Tensions were high on Wednesday night outside the Greek parliament building on Athens' Syntagma Square, which was the center of violent anti-austerity protests in years past. And while the streets of Athens were largely calm for much of the day, despite thousands marching against austerity measures tied to the country's new bailout agreement, the night took a more violent turn. As night fell, clashes broke out between protesters waiting to hear the fate of their country's economic future and the police sent to keep them calm.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 16, 2015 19 Comments
Long ago and far away I predicted that the effect on Hillary's presidential campaign of the multiple scandals would be cumulative. Since a large portion of the electorate, the younger generation, didn't know the real Hillary of the 1990s, Hillary's vulnerability was that the manufactured "nice grandma" and glass-ceiling breaker image of her would be supplanted by the controlling, paranoid figure of the 1990s. There is increasing evidence that the scandals, particularly the email scandal, is having an effect. You can see from the HuffPo Pollster chart that Hillary has been on a horrible favorability trajectory for the past two years: http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/hillary-clinton-favorable-rating There is more evidence today, in an AP-Gfk Poll that shows Hillary's favorability dropping to 39% among all voters, and even dropped among Democrats (though still high):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 16, 2015 69 Comments
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has effectively killed the "John Doe" case which led to home raids and intimidation of a wide range of Wisconsin conservative activists. The decision is embedded at the bottom of this post. Here is the key finding, which completely shreds both the legal theories and motives of the prosecutors, completely vindicates the targets, and praises those who fought back legally against prosecutorial misconduct (emphasis added):
¶133 Our lengthy discussion of these three cases can be distilled into a few simple, but important, points. It is utterly clear that the special prosecutor has employed theories of law that do not exist in order to investigate citizens who were wholly innocent of any wrongdoing. In other words, the special prosecutor was the instigator of a "perfect storm" of wrongs that was visited upon the innocent Unnamed Movants and those who dared to associate with them. It is fortunate, indeed, for every other citizen of this great State who is interested in the protection of fundamental liberties that the special prosecutor chose as his targets innocent citizens who had both the will and the means to fight the unlimited resources of an unjust prosecution. Further, these brave individuals played a crucial role in presenting this court with an opportunity to re-endorse its commitment to upholding the fundamental right of each and every citizen to engage in lawful political activity and to do so free from the fear of the tyrannical retribution of arbitrary or capricious governmental prosecution. Let one point be clear: our conclusion today ends this unconstitutional John Doe investigation.
Andrew Grossman, who filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case and who has served as counsel to Eric O'Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth (two of the targets of the investigation) in various federal civil rights litigation against the prosecutors, provided me with the following statement:
Today's decision puts an end to one of the worst abuses of power ever seen in Wisconsin law enforcement. The next step will be holding those responsible accountable for their actions. The Court's recognition that the John Doe was a politically motivated "dragnet" of Gov. Walker's allies provides strong support for Cindy Archer's civil rights action against the Milwaukee prosecutors and lawsuits by potentially any of the other John Doe targets.

Posted by New Neo on July 16, 2015 11 Comments
A quote from Lenin that's been running through my head, post Iran deal: "The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them." There are economic ramifications of the Iran deal, particularly to Europe. Europe was chomping at the bit to get access to trade with Iran, and for many Europeans sticking it to Israel into the bargain would be a feature rather than a bug. Russia was already about to trade with Iran, as announced in April. But the reason Russia was going to do this was that the Iran deal was already in the offing, and Russia knew sanctions would be lifted and wanted to get the jump on the action before the West did. The missiles Russia proposed to sell Iran are defensive in nature only, but:
...[T]he Kremlin is lifting a ban on selling a powerful air defense system to Iran that would render an airstrike on Tehran’s nuclear weapons facilities nearly impossible. The delivery of the new weapon, called the Almaz-Antei S-300PMU-1—known as the SA-20 Gargoyle in NATO parlance—would effectively force the U.S. to rely on its small fleet of stealth aircraft to strike targets inside Iran in case the mullahs make a dash for the bomb. But even those aircraft might have a difficult time.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 16, 2015 9 Comments
A reader, let's just call him Johnny, writes:
Seen on I-287 in NJ at 12:30 PM today [Monday, July 13, 2015]. It would appear the Dems have lost the teamsters. This is NOT a Photoshop.
I was skeptical, so I wrote back:
You promise it's not a photoshop?
He responded:
I took the photo with my Droid Turbo. If you think speaking to me personally will convince you, my cell is [xxx-xxx-xxxx]. Note that I was speeding!
Bumper Sticker - New Jersey - Trump on Truck Highway Me:
I assume you request anonymity, in that case.
Him:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 15, 2015 52 Comments
Beloved fast food chain of the South, Whataburger, recently found itself in national headlines after announcing their decision not to participate in Texas' newly minted open carry law. Full disclosure before we move forward, I love Whataburger. Love. Love. Love. In fact, I had a #1 with cheese, no veggies, and mayo for lunch/dinner today. giphy But love of hot, crispy fries, and breakfast taquitos at midnight aside, Whataburger is being portrayed inaccurately. Drawing fire from many, even factions on the right, Whataburger was accused of "taking a stand" against a law near and dear to the hearts of many Texans.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 15, 2015 18 Comments
Tuesday brought with it a devastating news cycle. Video footage showed a Planned Parenthood doctor munching on salad, sipping red wine, casually chatting about harvesting baby hearts and livers for cash. Towards the end of the video footage, the undercover videographers approach Planned Parenthood President, Cecile Richards (Daughter of Former Texas Governor Ann Richards), identifying themselves as employees of an organ harvesting organization. Richards says of the baby part harvesting abortion doctor, "she's amazing." Since the horrifying footage was released, Planned Parenthood claimed the video was "heavily edited," and "falsely portrays Planned Parenthood’s participation in tissue donation programs." Meanwhile, the company buying aborted baby body parts from planned parenthood appears to have taken their website down, according to Life News. Richards personally sounded off on Twitter defending Planned Parenthood and also quoting... Jane Austen? We decided to take a cursory look at those Richards supports and those that support Richards' work. This list is by no means exhaustive.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 15, 2015 13 Comments
Obama has received justified criticism for not giving a statement about the killing of Kate Steinle in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant who had a long criminal record and had been deported five times. The silence stands in contrast to Obama issuing statements and otherwise commenting on the death of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and others. That criticism comes mostly from conservative media. The mainstream media has slightly touched the story, but nowhere near as extensively as other cases. Surely, with all the criticism, at least one reporter at today's press conference would have asked a question about Kate's murder. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/kate-steinle-killed-felon-san-francisco-laid-rest-article-1.2287802 The press conference primarily addressed the Iran nuclear deal, but other issues were raised towards the end, including prison reform, revoking Bill Cosby's Medal of Freedom, and Obama's upcoming trip to Kenya.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 15, 2015 14 Comments
The Obama Administration is busy running a full court press on behalf of its terrible nuclear deal with Iran. Yesterday, the President sat down with Thomas Friedman of the New York Times for a softball interview, and today, he hosted a press conference to answer critics' concerns about the contents of the deal, and the Administration's posture toward Iran's overall behavior. https://youtu.be/SzBlcd4n73g?t=1h8m1s Via Fox news:

Posted by Amy Miller on July 15, 2015 4 Comments
Yard signs. 4x8s. Pens. T-shirts. Bumper stickers. Magnets. Hats. Staff. Transportation. Food. Lodging. Web development. Graphic design. Ad buys. Social media outreach. Video production. Event planning. On and on it goes---political campaigns are expensive. Even on a statewide or local level, it takes an enormous amount of time, energy, and resources just to build of the kind of name recognition it takes to run a solid campaign and win an election. Fundraising is key, and sometimes you're forced to prioritize it---but in America in 2015, we're fully in the thrall of slick, expensive-looking marketing campaigns, so don't expect that to go away any time soon. Tonight marks the first FEC filing deadline of the cycle, which means that voters will have their first opportunity to take a peek into the world of PACS, Super-PACS, and campaign finance. In the reports, you'll be able to see the names of everyone who donated at least $200 between April 1 and June 30; these filings also show how candidates in turn use that money to pay for workspace, staffing, consulting, and advertising. Candidates on both sides of the aisle have already raised around $377 million dollars, over half of which will back just two candidates: Hillary Clinton and Jeb(!) Bush. More via Fox Business:

Posted by Andrew Branca on July 15, 2015 42 Comments
Dr. John R. Lott Jr., who runs the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), today released yet another of the Center's outstanding reports, entitled: "Concealed Carry Permit Holders Across the US". (The full report is embedded at the bottom of this post.) The report's biggest takeaway was the continued acceleration of concealed carry licensing across the country. Those familiar with Dr. Lott's seminal book "More Guns Less Crime" will not be surprised to learn that murder rates in the United States continue to plummet even as concealed carry continues to skyrocket: murder rates v. CC The report revealed a change in demographics behind this ongoing acceleration of concealed carry licensing.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 15, 2015 2 Comments
On Saturday, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped from Mexico's maximum security Altiplano Prison. As head of the infamous Sinaloa drug cartel, it wasn't Guzman's first run in with the law---and it wasn't even his first prison break from a maximum security facility. In new surveillance footage released by the Mexican government, you can see the moment Guzman disappears from his cell and into the mile-long tunnel that eventually led him to freedom. In the video below, you'll see Guzman change his shoes, walk over to the shower area of his cell (conveniently equipped with a half-wall for privacy---great idea,) bend down, and disappear through a gaping hole beneath his shower grate. (Authorities discovered the escape hatch after they realized Guzman was gone.) Watch, via via Fox News:
The dividing wall blocked the interior camera's view of the hole into which Guzman appeared to disappear at 8:52 p.m. local time this past Saturday. Reuters reported it was one of two blind spots for the security cameras in Guzman's cell. National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido that the blind spots were intentional and designed to permit Guzman some privacy while washing.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 15, 2015 15 Comments
According to a document leaked to the Huffington Post, over 200,000 veterans waiting for healthcare have already died:
Leaked Document: Nearly One-Third Of 847,000 Veterans In Backlog For VA Health Care Already Died WASHINGTON -- More than 238,000 of the 847,000 veterans in the pending backlog for health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs have already died, according to an internal VA document provided to The Huffington Post. Scott Davis, a program specialist at the VA's Health Eligibility Center in Atlanta and a past whistleblower on the VA's failings, provided HuffPost with an April 2015 report titled "Analysis of Death Services," which reviews the accuracy of the VA's veteran death records. The report was conducted by staffers in the VA Health Eligibility Center and the VA Office of Analytics. Flip to page 13 and you'll see some stark numbers. As of April, there were 847,822 veterans listed as pending for enrollment in VA health care. Of those, 238,657 are now deceased, meaning they died after they applied for, but never got, health care.
You can read the entire document here, but as the Huffington Post mentioned, be sure to see page 13. (A screen cap of that page is featured at the top of this post.)

Posted by David Gerstman on July 15, 2015 13 Comments
President Obama defended his deal to Iran to Thomas Friedman of The New York Times yesterday. It was a bad deal and it represented a retreat on nearly every single element of the deal. In any case this is what Obama told Friedman:
“We are not measuring this deal by whether it is changing the regime inside of Iran,” said the president. “We’re not measuring this deal by whether we are solving every problem that can be traced back to Iran, whether we are eliminating all their nefarious activities around the globe. We are measuring this deal — and that was the original premise of this conversation, including by Prime Minister Netanyahu — Iran could not get a nuclear weapon. That was always the discussion. And what I’m going to be able to say, and I think we will be able to prove, is that this by a wide margin is the most definitive path by which Iran will not get a nuclear weapon, and we will be able to achieve that with the full cooperation of the world community and without having to engage in another war in the Middle East.”
And what about the opposition to the deal?
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