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September 2015

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 17, 2015 70 Comments
Yesterday a Texas teenager, who happens to be a Muslim, brought a homemade clock to school and was arrested because the clock was mistaken for a bomb. Some people are blaming racism but zero tolerance policies are the real problem. NBC News reports that he won't be charged:
No Charges For Ahmed Mohamed, Teen Arrested After Bringing Homemade Clock to School Police in Texas said Wednesday that charges will not be filed against a 14-year-old Muslim high school student who was arrested after he brought in a homemade clock that a teacher said looked like a bomb. The arrest drew an outcry on social media. Hundreds of thousands of people used the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed — and President Barack Obama invited the teen to the White House. Ahmed Mohamed, who is Sudanese-American, was arrested on Monday in the Dallas suburb of Irving after he took the clock to his high school. He told The Dallas Morning News that he had been in robotics club in middle school, and he wanted to show his new teacher what he could do.

Posted by Arsen Ostrovsky on September 17, 2015 18 Comments
This week saw the election of Malcolm Turnbull as the new Prime Minister of Australia, after having defeated the sitting Prime Minister Tony Abbott as head of Australia’s conservative ‘Liberal Party’. Some commentators in the United States have, erroneously, compared Turnbull’s ascension to power to that of Democratic Party Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders. But this could not be further from reality, with the two on stratospheric polar opposite ends of the political spectrum. Although Turnbull comes from the ‘Liberal Party of Australia’, like in Canada, it is the local conservative party, with the emphasis being here on ‘classic liberalism’ and conservative traditions. Whereas Sanders maybe be on the far-left in terms of both domestic and foreign policy issues, in Australia, Turnbull is considered a ‘moderate conservative’. Although Turnbull supports issues like gay marriage, climate change and social welfare, he is staunchly conservative on matters of foreign policy, economy and governance. He firmly believes in the free-market economy, private enterprise and free trade (including being a major proponent of Australia’s current negotiations for a free trade agreement with China), as well as lower taxes, reduced public spending and smaller governments. In other words, he is a ‘fiscal conservative’ in the truest sense of the word.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 17, 2015 6 Comments
Congressman McClintock represents California's fourth district. Wednesday, he announced he was resigning from the House Freedom Caucus. Formed earlier this year, the HFC hoped to pull the House Republican Caucus further to the right. There principles were simple. "First, rank-and-file Republicans must pressure leadership to enact a more conservative agenda. And second, this pressure should never involve frantic scurrying on the House floor," wrote NRO's Joel Gehrke in January.
As a caucus devoted to moving leadership’s agenda to the right, the group has a chance to take over the traditional role of the Republican Study Committee, which many lawmakers believe has strayed from its founding mission as an organization designed to pressure moderate GOP leaders to adopt more conservative positions. National Journal first reported that such a group was forming.
Less than a year after it began, the HFC has already lost one of its 30 members. Rep. McClintock's resignation was brutal. "I believe the tactics the HFC has employed have repeatedly undermined the House’s ability to advance them," he wrote.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 16, 2015 49 Comments
It was a night when Ted Cruz referred to this A.F. Branco cartoon (though he referred to the Hamas guy as the Ayatollah -- but the intend was right). https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/status/644313310201049088 This was the moment of the night. I don't know if anything can stop The Donald, but he was humuliated by Fiorina's response, which surely was planned at some level but made good use of Trump's preceding harangue of Jeb Bush: Fiorina was on fire all night. The clear "Winner." Scott Walker started strong, but then didn't get any questions for what seemed like forever. He managed to insert himself into the coverage by jumping in even when not asked a question. I don't know if he did enough to reverse his slide. Or at least enough to keep his campaign alive.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 16, 2015 30 Comments
Howdy and thanks so much for joining us tonight! This is the second of two debate posts this evening. First of all, cable or no cable, you can watch the debate if you have an internet connection. CNN is streaming both debates for free, but it will only work if you are in the United States:
If you don't have cable, you'll still be able to watch CNN's Republican primary debate on Wednesday night, because the network is live streaming it for free on the web. The live stream will be front and center on CNN.com between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET. It'll also be available through the news organization's apps and the CNNgo web site.
In tonight's main stage debate, we have:
  • Scott Walker
  • Carly Fiorina
  • Jeb Bush
  • Donald Trump
  • Chris Christie
  • Ben Carson
  • Ted Cruz
  • Rand Paul
  • Mike Huckabee
  • John Kasich

Watch real time debate reaction:

To providing a wide array of real time reactions, we've included a few different Twitter feeds for your entertainment. You'll find those beneath.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 16, 2015 8 Comments
Howdy and thanks so much for joining us tonight! This is the first of two debate posts this evening. First of all, cable or no cable, you can watch the debate if you have an internet connection. CNN is streaming both debates for free, but it will only work if you are in the United States:
If you don't have cable, you'll still be able to watch CNN's Republican primary debate on Wednesday night, because the network is live streaming it for free on the web. The livestream will be front and center on CNN.com between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET. It'll also be available through the news organization's apps and the CNNgo web site.
In tonight's early debate, we have:
  • Bobby Jindal
  • Rick Santorum
  • Lindsey Graham
  • George Pataki.

Watch real time debate reaction:

To providing a wide array of real time reactions, we've included a few different Twitter feeds for your entertainment. You'll find those beneath.

Join the conversation:

But here's the fun part. We want to hear from YOU. Questions, observations, thoughts, ideas? Share them in the comments section beneath. Amy and I will address them directly on the blog. Please keep them civil, appropriate, and debate-focused. We can't promise we will get to every single one, but we will do our best. Are you ready? Let the games begin! Post-debate UPDATE by WAJ: Here are my tweets and retweets of the night and take on the "result": https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/status/644297638247055360

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 16, 2015 14 Comments
Jeremy Corbyn is the radical leftist anti-Israel British politican with very shady associations who recently was elected leader of the Labour Party. The Conservative Party, which last spring won a resounding victory, was celebrating because Corbyn is deemed unelectable at the top of the Labour Party ticket in a General Election. Corbyn's associations are so toxic that Clinton operatives have been trying to portray Bernie Sanders as the American equivalent of Corbyn. The Free Beacon reports, Pro-Clinton Super PAC Goes Negative, Compares Sanders to Corbyn:
Liberals on social media criticized attacks against Bernie Sanders by a pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC that compared the Clinton competitor to notorious anti-American socialists in Europe and South America. “David Brock is a cheap fucking mercenary, all he did was switch sides,” said progressive writer Adam Johnson on Monday in response to a Huffington Post report on the new attacks from the Brock-run Super PAC Correct the Record. The group sent an email to supporters on Monday comparing Sanders to Jeremy Corbyn, the new UK Labour Party leader, who has compared U.S. actions in Iraq to those of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, among other anti-American comments.

Posted by Amy Miller on September 16, 2015 0 Comments
Russia has been an important ally of Syria's during the Assad regime's four year struggle to maintain its hold on power. Moscow recently strengthened its support for the flailing Syrian military, and on Wednesday, Russian media broadcast a roundtable-style interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in which Assad placed the blame for the current European migrant crisis on Western intervention in Syria. Via WaPo:
“If you are worried about them, stop supporting terrorists,” said Assad, referring to Europe-bound Syrians. “This is the core of the whole issue of refugees.” He described U.S. and European criticism of his policies as “propaganda” that will create “more refugees.” ... Assad said that a solution to the conflict could not be found until “terrorism” is defeated. He called on Syrians to “unite” against terror, portraying his government as bulwark against groups like the Islamic State, which a U.S.-led coalition is attacking at its strongholds in Syria and Iraq. The coalition does not attack Syrian government assets. U.S. officials do not coordinate those attacks with Assad’s forces.
You can watch the full interview with Russian media here:

Posted by New Neo on September 16, 2015 15 Comments
George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian masterpiece. Part of the book's genius lies in its nomenclature, and most definitely its insight into the political propaganda process. Thus, the Ministry of Truth, or "Minitrue" for short:
As with the other Ministries in the novel, the Ministry of Truth is a misnomer and in reality serves the opposite of its purported namesake: it is responsible for any necessary falsification of historical events. In another sense, and in keeping with the concept of doublethink, the ministry is aptly named, in that it creates/manufactures "truth" in the Newspeak sense of the word. The book describes a willful fooling of posterity using doctored historical archives to show a government-approved version of events.
The government in the US does its share of that sort of thing, but under President Obama the practice has reached new heights (or depths, if you want to look at it that way). But the left is not limited to governmental publications. It now has the full cooperation of the press, an institution that is supposed to bring us the truth and can serve to counter government propaganda. The left also has the movies, TV and other popular entertainment, and the vast majority of entertainers.

Posted by Amy Miller on September 16, 2015 11 Comments
Today, advocacy group #AllowDebate will occupy the steps of the Democratic National Committee headquarters and perpetuate a little Democrat-on-Democrat violence over what many believe are unfair and unreasonable restrictions on the Democratic primary debate schedule. From the Weekly Standard:
"Hundreds of protesters will rally at DNC headquarters on Wednesday afternoon to demand that DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz allow Democratic presidential candidates to debate more than 6 times. There were 26 Democratic primary debates in the 2008 campaign, including 11 before September 14th, 2007," says an email from the organizing group #AllowDebate. Says the group's founder, “DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is unilaterally defying the will of Democratic voters, Presidential candidates, and the DNC’s own Vice-Chairs. ... Her dictatorial suppression of free and open debate is an attack on the democratic process.”
Wasserman Schultz has repeatedly come under fire from both candidates and activists over this cycle's debate rules. In addition to scheduling just 6 officially-sanctioned debates, the DNC (via DWS) has limited the potential for rogue forums by creating a new rule: if a Democrat chooses to participate in a non-sanctioned debate, they’ll be banned from future sanctioned ones.

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 16, 2015 11 Comments
Hillary Clinton has a big problem. Although she's still favored to win the Democratic nomination in 2016, her favorability ratings have sunk to levels unseen since 2008. New York Times pollster Nate Cohn reported:
Signs of Hillary Clinton’s Troubles, in Charts Hillary Rodham Clinton was inevitably going to lose some of her aura once she started campaigning. The high favorability ratings she earned as secretary of state simply weren’t sustainable. But over the last two months, the steady and expected erosion of her ratings has surprisingly accelerated. Her ratings are now lower than they were in 2007 or 2008, or at any point in her political career.
Look at this devastating chart:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 16, 2015 7 Comments
Palestinians are among the largest recipients of international aid, per capita, in the world. Yet all we hear about is U.S. aid to Israel, which is entirely military and most of which comes back to U.S. companies because it is required to be spent on U.S.-made equipment. International aid to Palestinians doesn't come back to the donor countries. That includes an average U.S. annual contribution of $400 million. (pdf.) In fact, it doesn't seem to go anywhere productive. Why don't we hear more about this? Because there is no free press in any of the Palestinian controlled areas, or independent NGOs, like there are in Israel. Whereas Israel is under a microscope by dozens of NGOs and hundreds of reporters, Palestinian authorities -- both the PA and Hamas -- are beyond much Western scrutiny. Canada-based Rebel Media has a great video report, Palestinian Authority has been given enough money to equal 15 Marshall Plans -- with nothing to show for it:
Over the last 20 years, various countries, including Canada, have invested over US$30B in the emerging Palestinian state, with little to show for it. Calev Myers of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice explains why. "The international community made a terrible mistake in 1994," Myers says. "In order to push for two states for two peoples, they recognized Yassir Arafat as the legitimate leader of the Palestinian people and helped him create the Palestinian Authority."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 16, 2015 40 Comments
Naturally, the government has to ruin everything, including Little Free Libraries. You may have seen one of these little bird house turned mini-libraries in your neighborhood. They're a lovely idea. Simple, no fuss, and quite fun. Donate a book, borrow a book. Nothing to sign, no due date, no late fees, just common courtesy. Conor Freidersdorf of The Atlantic explored the ridiculous trend of "shutting down" unregulated community book sharing. In Kansas, residents were told to remove the library at peril of fine:
The Leawood City Council said it had received a couple of complaints about Spencer Collins' Little Free Library. They dubbed it an "illegal detached structure" and told the Collins' they would face a fine if they did not remove the Little Free Library from their yard by June 19.
Evidently, Los Angeles and Shreveport, Louisiana are hotbeds of illicit literary lending activity.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 15, 2015 189 Comments
We are now beginning to see the first signs of an air war against Donald Trump. The Club for Growth just released this ad: Will it work? It did against Newt in 2011-2012. The airwaves in Iowa and Florida were flooded with ads like this one, which is clearly cut from the same cloth as the anti-Trump ad:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 15, 2015 6 Comments
Lost but not totally forgotten in the EmailGate debacle is the Clinton family's questionable relationships with foreign powers. In particular, foreign powers whose interests are detrimental to the national security of the United States. Via investigation into the Clinton Foundation, some of these unsavory alliances have been unearthed for public viewing. A sampling: There was the time a Colombian oil company magically received a trade agreement Mrs. Clinton opposed while running for president in 2008. The trade agreement was reached immediately following a generous donation to the Clinton Foundation. Of course this happened while Mrs. Clinton was Secretary of State. Also happening while Mrs. Clinton was "Secretary Clinton" -- that whole incestuous, Russian uranium deal:
The NYT’s latest exposé into the sordid world of the Clinton family suggests a direct connection between the Clinton Foundation, Russian donations (that were not publicly disclosed), and the Russian acquisition of Uranium One. The events transpired while Mrs. Clinton was serving as Secretary of State.
Oh yes, and how can we forget the weapons deal with the Saudis:

Posted by Amy Miller on September 15, 2015 9 Comments
Officials in Hungary are fielding criticism after authorities declared a state of crisis all along the country's southern border with Serbia. The border is now sealed, which means that migrants caught crossing into Hungary are doing so illegally; so far officials have detained 60 people, with more arrests expected. The state of emergency also expands police power and paves the way for troop deployment should the situation spiral out of control. Hungary has set up a "transit zone" alone the border for the purposes of screening migrants attempting to enter the country; only those who have applied for asylum will be allowed to enter. More from the New York Times:
As of Tuesday afternoon, Hungary said 48 migrants in the transit zone had applied for asylum, with 13 rejected and the rest under review — a tiny fraction of the number of migrants at the border. Hungarian officials said they were preparing to erect a fence along the country’s eastern border with Romania that would be similar to the one on the Serbian border.

Posted by Andrew Branca on September 15, 2015 42 Comments
Florida State Representative Dennis Braxley, often referred to as the father of the state's Stand-Your-Ground law, filed a bill HB 169 that would profoundly alter the effects of Florida's self-defense immunity law, reports the Orlando Sentinel. (The bill is embedded at the bottom of this post.) As this is only proposed legislation at this point I would normally let it go given my workload, but I'm already seeing so much misinformation about this bill being spread thick over the internet that I feel obliged to set a reality stake in place.

First, "Stand-Your-Ground" ≠ Self-Defense Immunity

Before we even begin, please note that "Stand-Your-Ground" and self-defense immunity are two entirely different legal concepts, and conflating the two merely demonstrates an ignorance of the law.  "Stand-Your-Ground" has to do with whether a defender has a legal duty to retreat before using force in self-defense, period. Self-defense immunity has to do with whether a defendant can qualify as immune from prosecution, regardless of whether retreat is an issue in the case. Two. Different. Legal. Concepts. That out of the way, let's proceed.
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