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September 2015

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 26, 2015 53 Comments
I'm glad that I'm late to the story of Ahmed Mohamed, because others have done the work to debunk much of the media narrative of a young tinkerer and inventor wrongly singled out because he is Muslim and abused by police and the school for the crime of "being brown." The story has unfolded much like prior racial media and activist narratives. Trayvon Martin was not shot because he was a black teenager wearing a hoodie by someone who "shot first and asked questions later." That media narrative was demonstrably proven false through a lengthy public trial at which the evidence showed that Trayvon Martin was shot as he beat the crap out of George Zimmerman, Mixed Martial Arts style, as Trayvon had Zimmerman pinned to the ground, after smashing Zimmeran's head into the concrete repeatedly. The eyewitness and forensic evidence (including ballistic analysis) fully supported that Zimmerman used legally justifiable deadly force. So too, the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson was not as the media initially portrayed. An exhaustive investigation and analysis by Eric Holder's Justice Department proved that Brown was shot while grabbing Officer Darren Wilson's gun, after having assaulted Wilson as Wilson sat in his police vehicle. The Justice Department also concluded that Brown did now have his hands raised at the time of the shooting. The "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" narrative was pure mythology, yet it persists as a slogan of the Black Lives Matter movement. So getting back to Ahmed, the original racial and religious narrative played out immediately, and is believed as the gospel truth by liberals.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 26, 2015 19 Comments
The headline at most websites covering Carly Fiorina's campaign today is that Planned Parenthood protesters threw condoms at Fiorina, via ABC13 in Iowa:
Planned Parenthood protesters threw condoms at Carly Fiorina today while she campaigned at a tailgate party for the Iowa Hawkeyes. The protesters, some of whom were affiliated with the women's health group and others who were supporters, were dressed in pink and waved pink pom-poms as they followed the Republican presidential candidate around the tailgate, chanting "Carly Fiorina offsides for telling lies" and "women are watching and we vote."
https://twitter.com/JordynPhelps/status/647828621474725888 Expect to see more such Code Pink-style tactics against Fiorina. But to me the more interesting story is how Fiorina faced down a woman who confronted her face-to-face, via CNN:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 26, 2015 8 Comments
Pope Francis continued his American tour, touching down in Philadelphia this morning to ride by Fiat-motorcade to the downtown Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul and celebrating Mass for about 1,600 people. In his homily, the papal homily encouraged a greater role for women and laity:
The pope stopped by a nearby seminary for a rest after presiding over a Mass at Philadelphia’s cathedral in the morning, where he called on women and youth to play a greater role in strengthening the Catholic Church in America, while keeping the institution’s existing authority in place. In his homily, the pope singled out the story of Katharine Drexel, a Philadelphia-born heiress who became a nun and then, after her death, a saint. Pope Francis told the story of how Drexel had asked Pope Leo XIII for help with American missions and the pope replied, 'What are you going to do?' At Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Francis repeated that question in Spanish, “y tu?” — and what about you? — again and again as he reflected on the church’s role in a changing society and urged the faithful to support women and youth.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 26, 2015 17 Comments
Bill Clinton has something of a historical role reversal. Whereas in the 1990s it was Hillary complaining of the vast right wing conspiracy against Bill, now it's Bill complaining of the vast right wing conspiracy against Hillary. The New York Times reports, Bill Clinton Blames G.O.P. and Press for Wife’s Email Woes:
Former President Bill Clinton blamed Republicans who hope to undercut his wife’s presidential chances and a voracious political news media uninterested in substance for the furor surrounding Hillary Rodham Clinton’s use of a private email account and server while she was secretary of state. “I have never seen so much expended on so little,” Mr. Clinton said in a taped interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that will be shown on Sunday. The network released excerpts on Saturday afternoon. “She said she was sorry that her personal email caused all this confusion. And she’d like to give the election back to the American people,” Mr. Clinton said. “I think it will be all right. But it’s obvious what happened.”

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 26, 2015 22 Comments
On Wednesday, Ted Cruz published an article at Politco that skewered the Republican party's "politics of surrender."  He writes:
In 2010, we were told that Republicans would stand and fight if only we had a Republican House. In 2014, we were told that Republicans would stand and fight just as soon as we won a majority in the Senate and retired Harry Reid. In both instances, the American people obliged. Now we’re told that we must wait until 2017 when we have a Republican president. Like Charlie Brown and the football, this disconnect explains the massive frustration with Washington. The American people do not believe Republicans will actually do what we say we will do.
And this, of course, is why 62% of Republican voters feel betrayed by the GOP.  Despite historic victories handed to Republicans in 2010 and 2014, the GOP refuses to do what they campaigned they'd do and what voters sent them to Washington to do: stop Obama's agenda. These "campaign conservatives," to use Cruz's term, continue to have their show votes in Congress, meaningless votes intended to appease conservative voters, but then they quietly rubber stamp Obama's policies.  Cruz explains:
Alas, no. In today’s partisan Washington, there are only two important kinds of votes: show votes on legislation that has no chance of becoming law and votes on legislation that “must pass.” (A third kind of vote—growing government and worsening the deficit—occurs as well. These votes succeed because Democrats and Republican leadership agree that expanding corporate welfare and cronyism helps the reelection of career politicians of both parties.)

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 26, 2015 1 Comment
Despite pleas from numerous high level progressives over the last few years, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren is still insisting that she will not run for president in 2016. In an appearance on the Late Show this week, Stephen Colbert gave Warren celebrity treatment and asked her the question one more time. Curtis Houck of NewsBusters has the story:
Stephen Colbert Cozies Up to Elizabeth Warren, Pleads with Her to Run for President Near the tail end of his opening monologue, Colbert hyped that Warren “has launched a one-woman crusade against the billionaire class” and is “like Batman, but her enemy is Bruce Wayne.” Later in the September 24 program, Colbert introduced her as “the sheriff on Wall Street” and admitted to her that “you’ve come a long way, baby, if I may coin a corporate phrase.” Reminiscing about the first time he met her, Colbert hyped that she serves as “one of the household names in American politics and yet you are one of the few household names that is not running for president of the United States.” He then pleaded: “Are you sure you're not running for the president of the United States?

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 26, 2015 50 Comments
When John Boehner shocked everyone yesterday by announcing he would step down as house speaker, even Obama dropped his partisanship long enough to say a few nice things. No such courtesy was afforded by former house speaker Nancy Pelosi who used the opportunity to bash House Republicans as extremists who want to shut down the government. Carolyn May of Breitbart reported:
Pelosi: Boehner Resignation 'Indication of Disarray in GOP' Speaking to reporters Friday, Pelosi called Boehner’s resignation “a stark indication of the disarray of the House Republicans.” She continued, adding that it is “a demonstration of [House Republicans’] obsession with shutting down government at the expense of women’s health and a sign of the failure of the House Republicans to be willing to engage in dialogue for the good of the American people and for us to move forward.”

Posted by Amy Miller on September 25, 2015 7 Comments
Fledgling campaigns tend to focus on the most high profile primary states---Iowa and New Hampshire---as a source of both grassroots power and media exposure. They're good places to build a profile; but what if your candidate already has a huge profile, and the campaign experience to match? You expand, of course. Vice President Joe Biden's "Draft Biden" PAC is doing just that. Biden has been teasing the idea of a presidential run for some time now, and a senior advisor to the PAC confirmed to the media today that the outfit is staffing up its operation in the 11 states that are set to host their primary elections on "Super Tuesday."
“We’re very pleased with the organizing we’re doing in the early states. The goal of Draft Biden has always been to build out the infrastructure Vice President Joe Biden will need if he decides to enter the race," said Josh Alcorn, a former Beau Biden adviser. News of the was first reported by Reuters. "We’re looking beyond the early states, to Super Tuesday and the contests in March, and looking forward to expanding our team in the coming weeks. When he’s ready, we’ll be ready."

Posted by Amy Miller on September 25, 2015 15 Comments
Jeb Bush is lashing out against the entitlement state---but he's taking a page out of Mitt Romney's book to do it. During a town hall meeting in South Carolina last night, Bush touted Republican outreach efforts to minorities by taking a slap at the Democratic tendency to promise a lot of "free stuff" in return for votes. Unfortunately for Bush, however, Democrats (and some Republicans) were reminded of Mitt Romney's failed 2012 attempts to reach out to a broader base. Via WaPo:
"Look around this room," a man told Bush, who spoke to a mostly white crowd. "How many black faces do you see? How are you going to include them and get them to vote for you?" asked the man, who was white. Bush pointed to his record on school choice and said that if Republicans could double their share of the black vote, they would win the swing states of Ohio and Virginia. "Our message is one of hope and aspiration," he said at the East Cooper Republican Women’s Club annual Shrimp Dinner. "It isn't one of division and get in line and we'll take care of you with free stuff. Our message is one that is uplifting -- that says you can achieve earned success."
Listen:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 25, 2015 2 Comments
As more details of the massive Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hack are made public, China's likely roll in the unprecedented hack is increasingly difficult to ignore. In July, Amy explored why China is at least for official purposes, off the the hook for the OPM hack.
Citing concerns over national security, the Obama Administration has decided that they will not publicly blame China for the hack, even though conventional wisdom (and a fair amount of now-public evidence) suggests that they were responsible. Officials fear that coming out in an official capacity against Beijing will compromise what evidence investigators have been able to assemble. More from WaPo:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 25, 2015 19 Comments
The FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email usage grows increasingly serious. Whether Clinton deleted emails pertinent to a Congressional investigation is only one facet of the unfolding story. Among the emails made public by the State Department, several were later upgraded to "classified." a FOIA lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch also found Hillary was not the only individual using a clintonemail.com email. Huma Abedin, one of Clinton's closest aides, also had an email address with the clintonemail.com domain that was used during Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State. Repeatedly, Clinton has said half of all emails sent from her personal email account and contained on her home-brewed server were personal in nature and thus, not passed on to the Department of State for record retention. She's also claimed that emails sent from secured government email accounts were automatically captured by the State Department. This carefully worded claim does not account for those emails sent to aides like Abedin, who we now know also used a clintonemail.com email address. What began as an inquisition into the former Secretary handled classified information on her unclassified server has been broadened to include her aides:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 25, 2015 103 Comments
Speaker John Boehner will resign from his House seat at the end of October. The Hill reports:
Speaker John Boehner told GOP lawmakers on Friday he will resign at the end of October. The embattled Ohio Republican will resign from both his Speakership and his House seat, he told GOP lawmakers at a closed-door conference meeting. "Speaker Boehner believes that the first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution and, as we saw yesterday with the Holy Father, it is the one thing that unites and inspires us all," a Boehner aide said. The aide said the Speaker had only been planning to serve through the end of last year but decided to stay on after then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) suffered a stunning primary loss. "The Speaker believes putting members through prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution," the aide said. "He is proud of what this majority has accomplished, and his Speakership, but for the good of the Republican Conference and the institution, he will resign the Speakership and his seat in Congress, effective October 30."
Watch press conference LIVE: There was supposed to be a live press conference, but it was cancelled when it was announced Boehner left through the back door: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIinDt19q2I Turns out. the press conference was held later:

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 25, 2015 5 Comments
Islamists in Bangladesh have published a hit list of bloggers and writers which includes people in Europe and America. The image above is of people in Bangladesh protesting the murder of a blogger earlier this year. Jethro Mullen of CNN reports:
Extremists in Bangladesh publish global hit list of bloggers and writers Islamic extremists in Bangladesh appear to be taking their war on secular writers and bloggers beyond the South Asian country's borders. A hit list purporting to be from the militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team has been sent out threatening people in Europe and North America. "Let Bangladesh revoke the citizenship of these enemies of Islam," a statement accompanying the list says. "If not, we will hunt them down in whatever part of God's world we find them and kill them right there." The list contains nine people in the United Kingdom, eight in Germany, two in the United States, one in Canada and one in Sweden. CNN isn't reporting any of the names on the list.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 25, 2015 35 Comments
In a stunning development, Luvelle Brown, Superintendent of Schools, Ithaca (NY) City School District, has acknowledged that serious anti-Israel agitation took place when controversial Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi appeared with local anti-Israel activists before third graders, ending in a call to activism:
"In a closing statement of how students could help, a speaker spoke of solidarity and being freedom fighters for Palestine; to bring peace and protect the future of their children."
Brown stated, among other thing, that such statements and others were inappropriate:
"The Ithaca City School District’s position is that such statements are not developmentally appropriate for third graders, nor aligned with the New York State standards. The statements were politically skewed, inflammatory, and not endorsed by the Ithaca City School District."
The full letter is later in this post. But first, the background of how we reached this point.

Bassem Tamimi and Ariel Gold

On Sunday night, September 20, 2015, Legal Insurrection broke the story how Anti-Israel activism hits elementary school in Ithaca, NY:
An uproar is brewing in Ithaca, New York, after anti-Israel activists bragged on Facebook how they managed to bring Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi to a third-grade class as part of a presentation on the suffering of Palestinian children at the hands of Israel.
That third grade event took place on Friday, September 18.
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