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June 2016

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 27, 2016 17 Comments
Anxious to shift the national conversation from the worst terror attack on U. S. soil since 9/11, Democrats see an opportunity to accomplish that while simultaneously pushing to disarm law-abiding citizens. Democrats, eager to keep their gun grabbing plans on the front burner, are taking their protest against the Second and Fourth Amendments outside their pillow fort in the House and to town halls, conference tables, and press conferences on Wednesday, June 29th, their designated "day of action." The Hill reports:
Energized by their recent takeover of the House floor, the Democrats are eying a series of tactics and events for members to bring to their home districts through the break, including a "national day of action" designed to remind voters that Republicans have refused to bring the issue on the floor. In a letter sent to all Democrats on Friday, the organizers behind the sit-in urged their colleagues to "build the momentum" created by the protest, in hopes of forcing the Republicans' hands by dint of public pressure.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on June 27, 2016 10 Comments
In my old liberal hometown of Ithaca, NY, back in the George W. era it seemed you couldn't drive a block without seeing a "Dissent Is Patriotic" bumper sticker. But the night Barack Obama was elected, one imagined all across town earnest souls in their driveways, scraping those stickers off. And so it is that Joe Biden, the Vice-President of the United States, traveled to Ireland to imply that Donald Trump is 'un-American." For good measure, when it comes to illegal immigration, Biden proclaimed a preference for "bridges" over "walls." Think about that.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 26, 2016 10 Comments
We recently showed a video about how Palestinian incitement to violence is generated both top-down from the Palestinian Authority, and bottom-up through social media, VIDEO: No truly “Lone Wolves” in the Palestinian Knife Intifada A newly released video expands on the problem of incitement. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is notorious for helping to perpetuate the Middle East conflict, among other ways, by perpetuating the "refugee" status of Arab refugees created during the civil war and Arab invasion at the end of the British Mandate for Palestine. These refugees are unique in that other Arab countries refuse to integrate them or allow citizenship, while UNRWA uniquely counts even subsequent generations as "refugees." But UNRWA does much worse. It helps incite violence against and hatred of Jews through bigoted education. A recent film and study released (h/t Elder of Ziyon) demonstrates the problem, Filmmaker Calls for UNRWA ‘Self-Introspection’ Over Palestinian Classroom Incitement:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 26, 2016 6 Comments
Our 4th most read post in 2015 was Kemberlee's now classic Feminists Fall For #PissForEquality Hoax in which 4Chan users trolled feminists to get them to pee their pants for equality. If reports are accurate, 4Chan users may have outdone themselves with regard to the Brexit ReDo Petition to the UK Parliament, which now shows over 3.5 million signatures. The sharp run up of signatures fit perfectly with the instant mainstream media and political view -- that the passage of a referendum for the UK to exit the European Union was just a lark, a mistake, something the British people done when drunk. But is it as it seems? First off, the Petition was started months ago by a Brexit supporter, as Sky News reports, Second Referendum Petition Was Set Up By Outer:

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 26, 2016 7 Comments
No, it's not April 1. Israel and the Turkish government, led by anti-Semitic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have agreed to normalize relations after "six years of animosity" due to the 2010 Mavi Marmara ship. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım will formally announce the deal on Monday at 1PM local time (6AM ET). Of course, this does not mean Erdoğan has changed his ways or views on Israel. It's all about money.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 26, 2016 32 Comments
Between the dust-up over Mia B. Love (R-UT) using taxpayer money ($1,160) to attend the White House Correspondence Dinner and her somewhat high unfavorables, Love is facing a tough reelection bid this November and trails her Democrat opponent Doug Owens 51-45. Recognizing that she has work to do in order to keep her seat, Love  has decided to skip the Republican National Convention. The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

Rep. Mia Love has decided to skip the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, giving up her delegate slot to focus on her re-election bid and to go on a congressional trip to Israel.

She saw no benefit in attending the gathering where Donald Trump is expected to claim the party's presidential nomination.

"I don't see any upsides to it," Love said Friday. "I don't see how this benefits the state."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 26, 2016 45 Comments
Legal Insurrection readers and authors were recently having a robust discussion on the the British exit from the European Union and its potential impact on the U.S. Perhaps the biggest #Brexit effect with be on state independence movements. For example, Louis J. Marinelli, a Californian political activist and leader of the California independence movement, is using the European developments to drive a harder push to have California split from the United States.
His dream of seeing a free, independent California Republic was buoyed by Thursday’s shock result of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union—known as Brexit. Marinelli, president of the "Yes California" movement, was inspired by the Brexit vote, as “Leave” supporters in England and Wales overwhelmed “Remain” backers in Scotland and Northern Ireland—prompting discussions of whether Scotland will hold another referendum to leave the U.K behind and retain EU membership.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 26, 2016 8 Comments
After a long and bitter primary battle, Bernie Sanders is finally saying he'll vote for Hillary Clinton, an admission that's got to sting his most ardent supporters. Like Elizabeth Warren, Sanders will now throw his support behind the official candidate of Wall Street and big banks. Unlike Warren, he's not endorsing Hillary just yet. NPR reports:
Bernie Sanders Says He'll Vote For Clinton (Still No Endorsement, Though) Bernie Sanders said he'll vote for Hillary Clinton in November — but more than two weeks after she became the presumptive Democratic nominee, Sanders remains in the race.

Posted by New Neo on June 26, 2016 19 Comments
To be quite blunt about it, a great many people in Britain have just given a big middle finger to leaders who have ignored their concerns about national identity and autonomy, and their right to make decisions within their own country about the nature of that country. These principles used to be the bulwarks of a democracy such as Britain, with a long and proud tradition that has not yet died. Although the EU plan was designed to weaken that tradition---and probably has to a certain extent---the tradition is still strong enough, and the provocation great enough, to cause a majority of British voters to give a big resounding "no" to an EU scheme they've found to be increasingly intolerable, with diminishing rewards and increasing drawbacks. Anti-EU feeling among the people of member-states isn't limited to Britain, although it may be strongest there because Britain was a relative latecomer to the EU and retains some of its non-continental island identity. But nationalist movements are afoot in France, and Donald Trump represents the American version (although of course we're not in the EU and therefore have no need to vote to get out of it).

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 25, 2016 3 Comments
The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is very adaptive. As its tactics fail, BDS adjusts. The latest adjustment is moving its focus to graduate student unions, where the student population is a subset of the entire student population. In such unions (similar to some faculty associations), BDS supporters take over governing councils and turn the union into a BDS-controlled anti-Israel propaganda activist organization. We saw this in the U. Cal. system, and again at NYU. In each of those instances, the grad student union was an affiliate of the United Auto Workers. In the U. Cal. case, the UAW overruled the BDS resolution as contrary to the UAW's governing rules. It just happened again at NYU.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 25, 2016 23 Comments
Governor David Ige of Hawaii has signed into law a bill that requires gun owners in that state to be registered in an FBI database that will automatically notify police if an Hawaii resident is arrested in another state. Fox News reports:
Hawaii signed a bill Thursday to become the first state to enter gun owners into an FBI database that will automatically notify police if an island resident is arrested anywhere else in the country. Gov. David Ige said in a statement that the legislation is about community safety and responsible gun ownership. He said it will help law enforcement agencies protect Hawaii residents and visitors.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 25, 2016 4 Comments
Back in 2014, the Obama administration announced its plan to "give up its last remaining authority over the technical management of the internet" by giving "the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an international nonprofit group, control over the database of names and addresses that allows computers around the world to connect to each other." The response in many quarters was less than enthusiastic. The New Republic noted at the time:
A Wall Street Journal columnist described it as “America’s Internet surrender.” Said one member of Congress: “Giving up control of ICANN will allow countries like China and Russia, that don’t place the same value in freedom of speech, to better define how the internet looks and operates.”

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 25, 2016 13 Comments
The Pentagon is preparing to announce a lift of the ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military on July 1st. The left will undoubtedly hail this as a sign of progress but it turns years of policy on its head and raises a host of issues. Will transgender troops be allowed to choose which barracks they live in? Which bathrooms will they use? These may sound like trivial questions but military life doesn't afford much privacy. USA Today reports:
Ban on transgender troops to be lifted July 1 The Pentagon plans to announce the repeal of its ban on transgender service members July 1, a controversial decision that would end nearly a year of internal wrangling among the services on how to allow those troops to serve openly, according to Defense officials.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 25, 2016 11 Comments
Irving Kristol once famously described a conservative as a liberal who has been mugged by reality. In the case of film star Kelly McGillis, it was a home invasion which changed her mind about concealed carry. Bearing Arms reports:
After Home Invasion, Kelly McGillis Is Going to Conceal Carry Her ‘Top Gun’ Actress Kelly McGillis exploded into the American consciousness in the 1980s with riveting roles as a young Amish widow and mother in Witness (1985), Tom Cruise’s love interest in Top Gun (1986), and as Jodie Foster’s attorney in The Accused (1988).

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on June 25, 2016 31 Comments
Could there have been bona fide reasons for Brexit? Not if you believe Joy Reid. On her MSNBC show today, Reid suggested that old and rural voters, who tended to vote Leave, had "hijacked the future of the young." She also blamed voter discontent on Prime Minister David Cameron's "austerity" program. Guess Reid reckons that people would have been happier with a UK that looked like Greece. Ron Insana chimed in to suggest that older voters were "re-romanticizing" their past, leading Reid to see a symmetry with Trump campaign, which she claims is being driven by the "nostalgia voter."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 25, 2016 79 Comments
I must admit, few arguments related to the "settled science" of climate change astonish me anymore. But until today I failed to fully appreciate the extent of eco-activist creativity! Panicked progressives are now asserting the Britain's vote to leave the European Union will cause adverse effects on the environment. Yes....#Brexit will cause Climate Change.
Despite being an issue that knows no borders, affects all and is of vital interest to future generations, the environment was low on the agenda ahead of the UK’s historic vote to leave the European Union. The short answer to what happens next with pollution, wildlife, farming, green energy, climate change and more is we don’t know – we are in uncharted territory. But all the indications – from the “red-tape” slashing desires of the Brexiters to the judgment of environmental professionals – are that the protections for our environment will get weaker.
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