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October 2015

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 31, 2015 73 Comments
The GOP has a long history of subjecting its candidates to abuse by debate moderators. From George Stephanopolous to Candy Crowley, debates are a time for network journalists to earn their battle badges by damaging Republicans. And the GOP just sucks it up and takes it. So why would the CNBC moderators have thought the most recent Republican Primary debate should be any different? CNBC did what it thought it was supposed to do -- mock and snicker at Republican candidates. Belittle them. Dismiss their intelligence and portray them as kooks.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 31, 2015 39 Comments
Ted Cruz recently spoke to Glenn Beck about climate change as a political issue and suggested it's not science but religion. He makes an interesting case. Cruz points to the language around the issue, specifically the use of the term "denier." CNS News has the transcript:
Ted Cruz: ‘Climate Change Is Not Science -- It’s Religion’ “Just a couple weeks ago in the Senate I chaired a hearing where the president of the Sierra Club testified,” said Senator Cruz in an Oct. 28 interview on The Blaze TV. “We had an exchange, where I simply asked him about the data.” “He [Mair] simply couldn’t answer the most basic question, starting with the fact -- he couldn’t answer the most basic fact that for the last 18 years the satellite data show no significant warming whatsoever,” said Cruz. “He had no idea about that,” said Cruz. “He turned to his aides every minute or two.” “You know, part of the reason he didn’t know the facts?” said Cruz. “Because climate change is not science -- it’s religion.”

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 31, 2015 10 Comments
While it seems clear that the loser of this week's CNBC debate debacle was CNBC (and in many ways, the mainstream media as a whole), I was and am really curious to see post-debate polling.  Watching the debate, I couldn't help but think that those ill-prepared, condescending, and generally unpleasant moderators were doing the GOP—and conservatives more generally—a gigantic favor.  We've long said that the media is biased against, unfair toward, and disingenuous about Republicans, and we couldn't have written a script ourselves to better prove our point. The first post-debate poll released, an online NBC poll, shows Trump and Carson leading the race with 26% each and Ted Cruz in third with 10%.  Mike Flynn reports:
No other candidates earn double-digit support in the poll, from NBC News/Survey Monkey. Among those Republicans who watched the debate, Trump edges Carson, 25-24, while Cruz’s support jumps to 17 percent. Nearly a quarter of Republicans said Cruz did the best in the debate. He was followed closely by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), with one-in-five Republicans saying he did best. Trump and then Carson round out the top 4 performances in the debate, according to Republican voters.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on October 31, 2015 28 Comments
The World Health Organization (WHO) is feeling some heat after publishing a report indicating processed meats, such as bacon, should be classified as carcinogens. Instead of accepting this dread data as "truth", when asked if they were going to give up meat based on the news, Chicago Tribune readers quickly mocked the scare-mongering. Furthermore, over 70% of respondents to the Chicago Tribune poll had no plans to cut tasty pork products from their diets.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 31, 2015 32 Comments
As a member of Generation X, I was lucky enough to enjoy Halloween as a child in the 1970's before progressives began trying to ruin it with politics. What used to be a fun night of costumes and "trick or treat" with your friends has become the latest casualty of political correctness. In case you haven't heard, many costumes are no longer acceptable. There is some good news though, kids. You can dress up as a solar panel. The Daily Caller reports:
DOE Wants Kids To Dress Up As Solar Panels and Windmills For Halloween The Department of Energy (DOE) is celebrating Halloween by carving DOE themed Jack-O-Lanterns and instructing kids to dress up in “energy themed” costumes. The DOE official website includes instructions on how kids can dress up as a solar panel, a wind turbine, an “energy vampire,” a particle accelerator, or Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz.

Posted by New Neo on October 31, 2015 12 Comments
Jonah Goldberg points out something that the MSM has been purposely ignoring:
Carson has the highest favorables of any candidate in the GOP field. But...most analysis of Carson’s popularity from pundits focuses on his likable personality and his sincere Christian faith. But it’s intriguingly rare to hear people talk about the fact that he’s black. One could argue that he’s even more authentically African-American than Barack Obama, given that Obama’s mother was white and he was raised in part by his white grandparents... He was a towering figure in the black community in Baltimore and nationally — at least, until he became a Republican politician. And that probably explains why his race seems to be such a non-issue for the media... How strange it must be for people who comfort themselves with the slander that the GOP is a cult of organized racial hatred that the most popular politician among conservatives is a black man. Better to ignore the elephant in the room than account for such an inconvenient fact. The race card is just too valuable politically and psychologically for liberals who need to believe that their political opponents are evil.
Not strange at all.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 31, 2015 19 Comments
When it comes to social justice, no one is immune to the warriors' tactics of persuasion---not even Hillary Clinton. Yesterday, Black Lives Matter protesters interrupted an "African-Americans For Hillary" event with chants of "BLACK LIVES MATTER" and various hymns. Clinton was forced to pause her speech to address the interruption---and of course went into full pander mode. Watch:

Posted by Sarah Rumpf on October 30, 2015 15 Comments
Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) was officially sworn in as Speaker of the House on Thursday, and the sign over the doorway to the Speaker's Office wasn't the only change. The "Hey Girl, It's Paul Ryan" Tumblr, first launched in April 2012 with a seemingly endless supply of memes highlighting the Congressman's boyish good looks and penchant for fiscal policy, started posting new updates again. The photo blog was inspired by the many internet memes dedicated to actor Ryan Gosling and launched before former Gov. Mitt Romney tapped Ryan as his running mate. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="250"] From a May 2012 post on Hey Girl, It's Paul Ryan. Used with permission.[/caption]

Posted by Amy Miller on October 30, 2015 15 Comments
Because it's the Friday before a raucous drinking holiday, the State Department released today 7000 new pages of messages (or, 4432 individual messages) pulled from Hillary Clinton's homebrew email server---including 268 more classified emails. That brings the grand total of classified messages housed on the former Secretary's unsecured server to over 600. Most of the messages released are from 2011-2012, and reports show that none of them are related to the attack on the American outpost in Benghazi. More from the Washington Free Beacon:
State Department spokesman John Kirby said that none of the emails now marked classified “were marked classified at the time they were sent or received.” Most of the emails set for release Friday were sent or received by the former secretary of state between 2011 and 2012, save a few from 2009 and 2010 that haven’t been made public in earlier releases.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 30, 2015 22 Comments
When it comes to relatability, young voters peg Senator Rubio as the winner. A Fusion-hosted panel of younger voters during the third Republican Presidential debate unanimously agreed Marco Rubio was the most relatable.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 30, 2015 24 Comments
Early Friday afternoon, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus sent a nastygram to NBC News, suspending the Republican Party's partnership with the network. After the third Republican presidential debate, which was hosted by CNBC, Priebus said he was "ashamed" of how the network handled the event.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 30, 2015 37 Comments
It has long been obvious that Jeb Bush doesn't have what it takes in this presidential election cycle. Part of it is beyond Jeb's control - there is little appetite outside the donor class for another Bush at the head of the ticket. More than that, Jeb's reaction to Donald Trump's comments about 9/11 having taken place on George W. Bush's watch demonstrated how having Jeb as the nominee necessarily will result in a re-litigation of the Bush presidency. Intellectually that it possible, but as a practical political matter putting Bush on trial is a strategy that only Democrats can win. I have compared Jeb's political counter-punches to George Castanza in Seinfeld - always too little, too late, and said in a way that boomerangs. And that's what happened during the CNBC debate, in the most cringe-worthy moment so far:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on October 30, 2015 5 Comments
Police recruiting numbers are plummeting, and an alert has been issued that is sure to convince potential academy cadets to consider alternative careers:
The FBI has issued an alert to law enforcement about a possible "Halloween Revolt" by a dangerous anarchist group, an official has confirmed to CBS News. Federal officials issued a bulletin to local police departments about the potential for attacks against their officers, CBS News has learned. As first reported by the New York Post, a group known as the National Liberation Militia may be planning to dress in costume, cause a disturbance, and then ambush police who come to help. The Post reports the group has recommended members wear typical holiday masks and bring weapons like bricks and firearms. NYPD officials told the Post there is no specific threat to New York City, and they are monitoring the situation.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 30, 2015 21 Comments
As Obama stumps for gun control in Chicago, an interesting case has been filed in an effort to protect both religious liberty and the Second Amendment.  An Amish man from Pennsylvania attempted to purchase a gun via legal channels and was denied because he did not have a photo id, and he did not have that photo id because of his religious beliefs. The Amish in Lancaster Country believe that a photograph of themselves is the equivalent of a disallowed "graven image" and thus refuse to allow themselves to be photographed.  This is a religious exemption/exception that has been readily acknowledged and accepted by state and local government who have issued photoless ids and drivers' licenses to Amish people. The Washington Post reports:
In a suit that brings together the Second Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), an Amish man filed a federal lawsuit in Pennsylvania last week because he wants to buy a gun without the required photo ID — and because getting that photo ID would violate his religious beliefs.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 30, 2015 10 Comments
Police in three cities are now boycotting filmmaker Quentin Tarantino for his participation in a recent anti-cop rally, during which he accused police of being murderers. Tarantino's charges are particularly ironic considering the fact that he's built a career producing extremely violent films filled with gun violence and acts of murder. The latest police force to join the boycott is in Philadelphia. Christopher Rosen of Entertainment Weekly reports:
Philadelphia police join call to boycott Quentin Tarantino movies All 14,000 Members of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 have joined officers in New York and Los Angeles in calling for a boycott of Quentin Tarantino’s films.
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