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August 2015

Posted by Jared Samilow on August 09, 2015 21 Comments
With each passing day, it looks more certain that Obama will get his way on Iran. The Republicans in Congress will not persuade enough of their blue colleagues to defy Obama. Not that this comes as a surprise. The President has run circles around Republicans for as long as anyone can remember. Why should now be any different? But even Obama’s luck can run out eventually. A report suggests that a senior French diplomat is having second thoughts; there are whispers that other European leaders may be seeing the light. We can wistfully ponder the possibilities Congress might open up if, by some miracle, that light reaches its Democratic precincts. As it were, the sensible alternative to no deal is actually not war, but no deal. Full stop. John Kerry may hold forth that no deal spells war. But what he really means is that only those who want war could possibly oppose him. It’s a primitive scare-tactic.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 09, 2015 46 Comments
Ever since the White House leaked Thursday night that Sen. Chuck Schumer would be coming out against the Iran deal, the progressive movement has foamed at the mouth with vitriol directed Schumer's way. Much of it is just the plain old progressive vitriol of the MoveOn.org, Daily Kos and netroots types. Schumer is a warmonger, wants war, loves war, and so on. https://twitter.com/tparsi/status/630051055687090176 Obama set up that argument when he claimed that Republicans were making common cause with hardline Iranians -- even though Obama clinched the deal with hardline Iranians who are laughing all the way to the bank and an internationally-authorized nuclear enrichment program. Obama set up the disloyalty argument, and it's no surprise that it's being used against Democrats who don't support the deal, particularly Jewish Democrats like Schumer. That dual loyalty charge -- often expressed in terms of being an "Israel firster" -- is an old anti-Semitic line of attack, as we explored in detail in a prior post, GreenStar boycott group trainer hurls “Israel-firster” slur at Schumer. The dual loyalty charge is almost exclusively made against Jewish supporters of Israel. You rarely hear it used against American Christians who support Israel. As The Tablet magazine reports, given the various dog whistles put out by the Obama administration, it's no wonder these type of accusations are resurfacing.

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 09, 2015 35 Comments
Scott Walker appeared on CBS This Morning Friday to talk about his campaign and how he did in the debate. Oddly enough, as soon as Walker started talking about Hillary Clinton, Norah O'Donnell wanted to shift the conversation to Donald Trump and obviously wanted Walker to answer for Trump's words and actions. Walker handled it well and tried to steer the conversation back to his campaign but O'Donnell persisted. She clearly wanted Walker to comment on Trump. Partial transcript via NewsBusters:
Rather than accept Walker’s rejection of Trump’s language, the CBS host continued to press the governor over Trump’s comments and demanded that he “denounce” his opponent:
You know that your own party did a full dissection of what happened in the last presidential campaign about how the Republican Party does among women and how they do among minorities. If you have the leading candidate in the Republican Party saying those things about women, when it was the largest gender gap in history in the last presidential election, can you denounce those comments here today, or is it just part of a freewheeling debate?
Here's the full video:

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 09, 2015 30 Comments
For the second time in a month, Bernie Sanders has been derailed by Black Lives Matter activists. The last time was at the Netroots Nation conference in Phoenix. This time it was at a campaign rally in Seattle, WA. John Wagner of the Washington Post reports:
Bernie Sanders leaves Seattle stage after event disrupted by Black Lives Matter protesters A planned speech in Seattle by presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders celebrating the anniversary of Social Security and Medicare was scuttled Saturday after protesters from Black Lives Matter took the stage and demanded that the crowd hold Sanders “accountable” for not doing enough, in their view, to address police brutality and other issues on the group’s agenda... Shortly after the senator from Vermont started speaking, a small group of protesters took the microphone, shared a series of local grievances with the crowd, including school disparities and gentrification in Seattle, and then asked for a period of silence to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown being shot and killed during a confrontation with a police officer in Ferguson, Mo.

Posted by Amy Miller on August 08, 2015 16 Comments
The digital space has become an increasingly important---and diverse, and lucrative, and powerful---medium for candidates to market themselves to voters. This election cycle, we've seen campaigns go to new lengths to make sure that their figurehead stays relevant and connected to voters who use the internet to get their daily dose of political spin. Enter Facebook, our powerhouse platform. Last week, Facebook partnered with Fox News to create an interactive experience for viewers of the first GOP Presidential primary debate of the 2016 cycle. Facebook explains:
The event sparked strong social conversation with 7.5 million people generating more than 20 million Facebook posts, comments, and likes. Many turned to Facebook to comment on the candidates’ performances and discuss issues of importance, as the voices and faces of people on the platform framed the questions and tone of this early #GOPDebate.

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 08, 2015 15 Comments
If you're one of the people who think it's madness to prohibit the carrying of firearms in military workplaces, there's some good news developing. The U.S. Navy is planning to place armed guards at reserve centers. NBC News reports:
Chattanooga Shooting: Navy Plans Armed Guards for Reserve Centers After a gunman killed four Marines and a sailor at a Navy Reserve Center in Chattanooga last month, the Navy plans to station armed guards at all of its reserve centers across the country, NBC News has learned. An email sent to Naval Reservists nine days after the attack, and obtained by NBC News, says "VOLUNTEERS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY!" to provide 45 days of "armed sentry watchstander duty" at 53 "NOSCs," or Navy Reserve Centers, beginning Aug. 17, and also asks for volunteers to provide a full year of armed sentry duty at 70 reserve centers starting Oct. 17.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 08, 2015 13 Comments
When Lois Lerner preemptively "broke" the story in 2013 about the IRS targeting conservative groups from (at least) 2010 to the time leading up to the 2012 presidential election, there was outrage and a bit of curiosity because it was she, then director of the Exempt Organizations Unit of the IRS, who admitted to these illegal actions.  Four days later, the Inspector General's office issued a report confirming the targeting, and three years later, we are learning of additional targets such as Bristol Palin. After his initial feigned outrage, Obama, of course, is adamant that there is not a "smidgen of corruption" at the IRS, but that remains to be seen as reports of ongoing IRS targeting of conservatives emerge. Conservatives were—and are—justifiably outraged at such a blatant and illegal weaponization of the IRS against those whom Lerner and others in the IRS, perhaps on up to the White House, deemed threatening or otherwise "enemies."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 08, 2015 40 Comments
A good way to predict the future is to look at the past. Using this approach, I have some predictions about what is likely to happen next in the campaign of my current favorite presidential aspirant: Carly Fiorina. To do so, I will look at what happened to Sarah Palin in the wake of her dynamic speech accepting the GOP nomination for Vice President. Palin's presentation was so energetic and moving that she instantly became a target of smears by progressives across the nation, particularly progressive feminists. Her hair, clothing, accent, and family were demeaned, degraded, and dismissed during the 2008 campaign season, and her humiliation is still not complete (e.g., Jon Stewart deriding the "folksy idioms" used by Palin during the Iowa Freedom Summit). Fiornia just gave a brilliant performance and an amazing introduction to the American people...so let the mocking begin:

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 08, 2015 10 Comments
While everyone has been talking about the Republican debate on Thursday night, the Democratic Party finally announced its (small) debate schedule. It's almost like the party wants to minimize the number of times Ms. Clinton appears in a debate with her challengers, some of whom are already complaining. CNN reported:
CNN to host first Democratic presidential debate CNN and the Democratic National Committee announced Thursday the network will host the first Democratic primary debate in Nevada on October 13. The exact location will be announced in the coming weeks. CNN's is the first of six planned that the Democratic Party announced Thursday. DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said the schedule will give Democratic voters plenty of time to vet the candidates, though some Democratic candidates are already complaining there should be more debates. "With six debates scheduled  --  at a pace of roughly one per month  --  voters will have ample opportunities to hear our candidates discuss their visions for our country's future," Wasserman Schultz wrote Thursday in a post on Medium.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 08, 2015 11 Comments
Nasty, anti-Semitic accusations of dual loyalty, or worse, lack of loyalty to the U.S. are being thrown by progressives at Chuck Schumer for coming out against the Iran nuclear deal. We will have more on that in a separate post. https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/status/629832847717728256 Schumer is likely to lose his position as Senate Minority Leader when Harry Reid retires because of his Iran nuclear deal position: https://twitter.com/dylanotes/status/629509946154029057 In the absence of Schumer's support, Obama's go to guy keep enough Dems in line to avoid a veto override in the Senate is Dick Durbin, as HuffPo reports, Dick Durbin Becomes Lead Whip For Peace On Iran:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on August 08, 2015 237 Comments
During an interview with CNN Friday night, GOP front-runner Donald Trump indicated he was less than impressed with Fox News host Megyn Kelly. Kelly was one of a panel of debate moderators in the first Republican Presidential Primary debate hosted by Fox News Thursday night. From CNN:
In an interview with Don Lemon on "CNN Tonight," Trump on Friday accused Fox of asking "vicious," unfair questions at the debate and called Kelly "overrated." Kelly had pressed Trump about misogynistic, sexist comments in his past. On CNN, Trump called the questions "ridiculous," called her "off-base," and said, "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever." Trump told Lemon that he didn't know whether he'd participate in a future Fox debate. "I might not, to be honest," he said. "I didn't think they were fair." Earlier in the day, Trump had blasted Kelly on Twitter and wrote that Fox News "should be ashamed."
http://youtu.be/M28z9y4yT6Y

Posted by Amy Miller on August 07, 2015 17 Comments
Three years ago, James Holmes walked into the midnight showing of a new Batman movie, pulled out a gun, and opened fire into the crowd. He killed 12 people, injured 70 others, and referred to his victims as "collateral damage." In the aftermath, the media scurried for explanations, blaming everything from the tea party to mental illness for such a senseless and upsetting act of violence. Still, justice prevailed, and a jury found Holmes guilty of 24 counts of first-degree murder and 140 counts of attempted murder. Today, that same jury will decide whether or not Holmes should face the death penalty for his actions. A decision is expected at 7 p.m. ET, and we'll cover it live here (hopefully with an embedded livestream.) More from NBC News:
For the final decision, the jury deliberated for less than seven hours, starting on Thursday afternoon and continuing through Friday. If the jury decides against the death penalty, Holmes will get life in prison without parole. Twelve people were killed and 70 were injured in the attack. During the trial's penalty phase, Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler told the jury that Holmes deserved to die. "For James Egan Holmes, justice is death," he said. Defense attorneys argued that Holmes suffered from schizophrenia and he was legally insane when he carried out the attack. The jury rejected that defense in finding Holmes guilty. In the penalty phase, Holmes' lawyers said it would be inhumane to execute a man who suffered from mental illness.
***UPDATES*** We have a live stream:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on August 07, 2015 6 Comments
We're here in Atlanta for Red State's annual conference. Governor Perry shared a heartwarming story or as Perry called it, "a sad story but a good story." Perry recalled the time a grandmother of a fallen marine reached out to him. She was hoping Governor Perry would be able to assist in having her grandson's service black lab, Eli, returned to the family. Eli's, "the only connection the family has," remembered Perry. "He had this black lab that he idolized named Eli. Right before he deployed he told his mom that when he finished up this tour, he was going to return to Orange Grove and raise puppies with Eli. He got killed by small arms fire."

Posted by Amy Miller on August 07, 2015 11 Comments
Back in June when we last covered Boko Haram, the group was recovering from a series of losses with a new propaganda push aimed at dispelling rumors about the insurgency's slow implosion. Boko Haram rallied soon after, and surged once again outside of Nigeria and into neighboring countries, resuming their campaign of terror. The American Foreign Press reports that earlier this week the terror group abducted 135 people and killed 8 during a village raid in northern Cameroon. The move into Cameroon from the group's base territory in northeastern Nigeria is part of a surge in the group's terror activity in neighboring countries. More from AFP:
The insurgents also shot dead nine fishermen in a village near the shores of Lake Chad in northeastern Nigeria, amid heightened violence region-wide since Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's was sworn in in May. More than 800 people have been killed in just two months in a surge of Boko Haram attacks, which began after Buhari took office on a pledge to defeat the militants.
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