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Author: Kemberlee Kaye

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Kemberlee Kaye

Kemberlee Kaye is the Senior Contributing Editor of Legal Insurrection, where she has worked since 2014 and is the Director of Operations and Editorial Development for the Legal Insurrection Foundation. She also serves as the Managing Editor for CriticalRace.org, a research project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation.

She has a background working in immigration law, and as a grassroots organizer, digital media strategist, campaign lackey, and muckraker. Over the years Kemberlee has worked with FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, James O'Keefe's Project Veritas, and US Senate re-election campaigns, among others. 

Kemberlee, her daughter, and her son live a lovely taco-filled life in their native Texas.

You can reach her anytime via email at kk @ legalinsurrection.com.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 24, 2015 33 Comments
You might remember Emma Sulkowicz, the Columbia University student who vowed to carry her mattress around campus in protest of her alleged rapist who remained on campus. Sulkowicz turned what she says was a horrible tragedy into performance art; performance art that will suffice as her senior thesis. Sulkowicz chose not to press charges, but to pursue allegations through Columbia's 'justice' system instead. A few months ago, Sulkowocz's alleged rapist, German student Jean-Paul Nungesser, provided his side of the story to the The Daily Beast. Nungesser's story, which was corroborated by Facebook and text messages provided to The Daily Beast, deviated significantly from Sulkowicz's version of the sordid tale. Though charges levied against by Nungesser were dismissed by Columbia University, he was judged harshly by his peers as a result of what appeared to be false accusations. When Nungesser's shared his version of events, I wrote:
Nungesser was judged in the court of public opinion because of what appear to be patently false accusations. He was hounded by the press and his peers. Meanwhile, Sulkowicz was praised for her bravery and artistic expression. And the compulsion to vilify the accused, in spite of evidence to the contrary, has yet another notch on its belt.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 23, 2015 22 Comments
They New York Times dropped a bomb. More like a daisy cutter, actually. 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. Point for Rand Paul who publicly predicted new, potentially disastrous revelations about the Clinton Foundation just weeks ago. The dots connected in the NYT story, links reportedly included in the upcoming book, "Clinton Cash", might be the most serious allegations in the litany of Clinton-family misdeeds thus far.
Beyond mines in Kazakhstan that are among the most lucrative in the world, the sale gave the Russians control of one-fifth of all uranium production capacity in the United States. Since uranium is considered a strategic asset, with implications for national security, the deal had to be approved by a committee composed of representatives from a number of United States government agencies. Among the agencies that eventually signed off was the State Department, then headed by Mr. Clinton’s wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton. As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation. Uranium One’s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. Other people with ties to the company made donations as well.
Coincidence, right?
And shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock. ... Whether the donations played any role in the approval of the uranium deal is unknown. But the episode underscores the special ethical challenges presented by the Clinton Foundation, headed by a former president who relied heavily on foreign cash to accumulate $250 million in assets even as his wife helped steer American foreign policy as secretary of state, presiding over decisions with the potential to benefit the foundation’s donors.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 23, 2015 20 Comments
By a vote of 56–43, the Senate confirmed Loretta Lynch as Eric Holder's replacement today. Lynch will be the first African-American woman to serve as attorney general. Legal Insurrection has vocally opposed the confirmation of Loretta Lynch, and painfully so, seeing as the Attorney General to-be was a law school classmate of Professor Jacobson's. Our objections, like the objections of many, revolve around Lynch's views on prosecutorial discretion and President Obama's executive immigration overreach. The reader may recall Lynch's nomination hearings. During these hearings, Lynch made no indication she would handle President Obama's executive immigration overreach in a manner that differed from Eric Holder. Ten Republicans voted to confirm Loretta Lynch. They are, in no particular order:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 23, 2015 15 Comments
For a paltry $200, you finally give Mom the gift she's always wanted -- a $50 Starbucks gift card. But this isn't any ordinary Starbucks gift card, oh no. This special, limited-edition version is etched and comes in a cardboard box. "Offered for the first time ever, this Mother's Day Starbucks Card makes an elegant gift with its laser-etched floral details and satin ceramic finish. It comes pre-loaded with $50 on the Card and packaged in a beautiful gift box with matching design," says the Starbucks website. So far, the overpriced premium gift card has a total of one review. The alleged purchaser, UniBaller, likes the laser-etched card so much, they intend to keep it fo' themself. Screen Shot 2015-04-23 at 9.36.11 AM

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 22, 2015 7 Comments
According to The Hill, one of Hillary Clinton's longstanding supporters has defected to Governor Martin O'Malley. The Miami Herald explains, "as Miami mayor, Manny Diaz backed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary. But now he's hosting a breakfast for former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a potential Clinton rival in 2016." To say that Diaz is excited about a potential O'Malley run is probably an understatement. Diaz told the Miami Herald, "He's not running yet, but I'll tell you, if he does run, I will endorse him. He's an old friend, and I'm very loyal to old friends."
Diaz praised O'Malley's work as Baltimore mayor and noted he visited him when he first got elected in Miami. Diaz ended up using Baltimore's 311 call system as a model for his own city. "He's very data-driven, results-oriented, 'let's see how we're doing, let's measure ourselves,'" Diaz said. Plus, he has a soft spot in his heart for executives: In 2008, as head of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Diaz said he met separately with Clinton and Barack Obama and urged them to run as "mayor of the United States." "When you look at what mayors do, and in this case what governor's do -- and he's been both, so he's actually run something," Diaz said. "He's run two governments."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 22, 2015 16 Comments
Is the 2016 GOP field to RINO-y for you? Hillary too full of hogwash and O'Malley too boring? Are you looking for a candidate who graduated from the School of Hard Knocks? Then Waka Flocka Flame might just be the candidate you're looking for... or not. Juaquin James Malphurs or Waka Flocka, is a rapper from Atlanta. He also announced his presidential candidacy Monday (which was not so coincidentally 4/20). According to Rolling Stone:
Two years ago, Waka Flocka Flame made a promise. "I'm dead ass running for president in 2016," the Atlanta rapper tweeted. The date was November 6th, 2012. Today, he's keeping his word. In a high-level meeting with Rolling Stone today, on April 20th, 2015, Waka declared his candidacy for the next President of the United States, with DJ Whoo Kid as his running mate.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 21, 2015 28 Comments
Perhaps Mrs. Clinton should read the newspapers like the current White House occupant, then she might find her self a bit more informed about the goings on in the country she hopes to rule run. Speaking in Keene, New Hampshire yesterday, Hillary said: "From my perspective, I want to be sure that we get small businesses starting and growing in America again. We have stalled out. I was very surprised to see that when I began to dig into it. Because people were telling me this as I travelled around the country the last two years, but I didn't know what they were saying and it turns out, we're not producing as many small businesses as we used to, and a recent world study said that we are forty-sixth in the world in the difficulty to start a small business. And we'll get into some of those."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 21, 2015 49 Comments
You've seen the maps delineating the largely regional usage of words like "y'all" versus "you guys." But what about the more subtle differences in English usage? Yale's Grammatical Diversity Project produced some rather fascinated results. The study "examines syntactic differences among local varieties spoken by considerably smaller numbers of people." Digging far deeper into the grammar usage among regions within the same state, the study documents, "minimal differences among varieties of English spoken in North America." According to one of the researchers, the goal was not to look for grammatical inaccuracies or judge language usage, but to catalogue regional variations. For example, in many parts of New England, people will say "so don't I" to mean "so do I," he explained. The study also explores generational differences in the usage of words like, "so." Among younger people, and particularly in New York and California, "so" is used to convey drama. For example, "I was so tired last night, I couldn't keep my eyes open."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 20, 2015 40 Comments
As Aleister wrote previously, Christina Hoff Summers received an... interesting response when she spoke at Georgetown Thursday night. Ms. Sommers is the Factual Feminist at the American Enterprise Institute. In the Oberlin Review radical feminists responded to Sommers' upcoming speech with an OpEd, "A Love Letter to Themselves." In this love letter, they accuse Sommers of being a "rape denialist" and proceeded to list her "offenses" to feminism. The letter concluded:
So let’s engage in some radical, beautiful community care, support and love. Let’s make space for everyone to engage at whichever level they want/need. Let’s come through for each other, both now and in the future. Trauma is an experience that threatens a person’s bodily, spiritual and emotional integrity. The psychological, emotional and somatic impacts extend beyond the experience of trauma. Healing is a process that looks different for each person. Let’s make space to care for all experiences of trauma and to respect those we care for. Let’s focus our energy on taking care of each other and ourselves. Let’s make her talk irrelevant in the face of our love, passion and power.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 20, 2015 9 Comments
I love stories about armed citizens stepping up to secure the safety of the general public, so naturally this one struck my fancy. An Uber driver shot and injured a gunman who open fired into a crowd over the weekend.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 20, 2015 14 Comments
Earlier today, Colorado's chapter of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, or NARAL, tweeted a disturbing admission in response to a bill currently rattling around in the state house. I read this over and and over again, hoping NARAL Colorado wasn't advocating against penalties for those who end a pregnancy against a mother's wishes. But there's simply no way around it -- NARAL is anti-personhood. They went on to say: And then kept digging:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 19, 2015 44 Comments
Breitbart News caused a stink when it reported on presidential candidate Marco Rubio's alleged comments on Obama's unilateral executive immigration programs. The headline inaccurately suggested that Rubio supported President Obama's executive immigration overreach. As we will discuss, this was only one of numerous mistranslations. Screen Shot 2015-04-19 at 5.55.35 PM The latest offense involves Senator Rubio's recent interview about immigration policy with Univision. Senator Rubio reiterated his well documented position on the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs. Rubio clearly says the programs will have to end. Interestingly enough, Sen. Cruz shares Sen. Rubio's opinions on DAPA and DACA.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 18, 2015 21 Comments
Now that he's officially running for President, Sen. Rubio's affinity for rap and hip-hop is back in the spotlight. Earlier this week, Sen. Rubio was asked if he would be willing to demonstrate his skill of 'spit rapping lyrics' on MSNBC's Morning Joe. Citing the inappropriateness of the lyrics, Rubio declined to share his talent in front of the video cameras. Sen. Rubio's love of hip-hop has surfaced occasionally over the past few years.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 17, 2015 13 Comments
Tomorrow evening marks 240 years since Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride. Made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Revere's ride has become an iconic piece of American revolutionary history. Longfellow's poem was riddled with inaccuracies, but made for an entertaining rhyme.
LISTEN, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, ‘If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light,— One, if by land, and two, if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm...’
Revere was a Boston-based artisan, early propaganda artists, and original Tea Partier:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 17, 2015 12 Comments
America Rising PAC dropped a new video earlier this week and boy does this one sting. This latest addition to the open Hillary oppo file recounts the scandalicious candidate's most memorable lies in all their video-taped glory. Will the truth make a dent in Hillary's plans? Though she's launched her official burrito-filled presidential campaign, Mrs. Clinton's email scandal woes are far from over. Rep. Gowdy requested two interviews, a private, transcribed interview before the Select Committee on Benghazi as well as a public hearing. While Mrs. Clinton has said she would testify in a public hearing before the committee, to date, neither she nor her counsel have responded to Gowdy's request.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 17, 2015 13 Comments
Yesterday Gawker Media's staffers announced their open flirtations with unionization. While union strongholds nationwide are diminishing in favor of greater employee choice and right to work, Gawker is hoping to be the first online publication subject to union demands. Hamilton Nolan explained why he finds unionization appealing because he wanted to get ahead of the gossip. Yes, really. But then what is Gawker if not gossipy?
Every workplace could use a union. A union is the only real mechanism that exists to represent the interests of employees in a company. A union is also the only real mechanism that enables employees to join together to bargain collectively, rather than as a bunch of separate, powerless entities. This is useful in good times (which our company enjoys now), and even more in bad times (which will inevitably come).
Speaking from personal experience, I've never been employed by an entity with unionized employees. But when you live in a great right to work state like Texas, that whole organized labor problem solves itself. Perhaps I've been exceptionally fortunate or maybe it's because I've always understood my roll as an employee is simply to complete the job I was hired to do, but not once in my professional life have I encountered a workplace situation where I thought, "Gee, a hoard of angry people picketing, striking, and demanding the boss capitulate is a GREAT idea! Let's do that!" Nor have I ever felt I needed the assistance of groupies to convey a point. I've never felt 'powerless' because my expectation of work was not to garner power, but to do a job, and then get paid because I did the job I was hired for. I'm also not a pansy. But I digress... back to Nolan's union rationale:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 16, 2015 5 Comments
Etsy has long been my internet happy place. The online market provides craft-makers, artists, photographers, and virtually every creatively-minded individual a place to hawk their wares. And with over one million active sellers scattered across the globe, there's an abundance of fabulously kitschy, and often customizable items to chose from. I've purchased everything from wall hangings, jewelry, vintage clothing, incense, post cards, to hors d'oeuvres plates, and many other unique pieces. Until recently, mass manufactured products were not eligible for Etsy stores. Founded in Brooklyn approximately 10 years ago, Etsy practically re-engineered the virtual marketplace and offered a global platform for the would-be small business owner.  Opening a shop in Etsy's marketplace is free. Etsy charges 20 cents for each item listed and collects a fee of 3.5% once the item sells. Screen Shot 2015-04-16 at 2.06.43 PM Reaching a new milestone today, Etsy went public. The IPO's shares are currently hovering around $32 a pop. "Today, as we reach an important milestone for Etsy – our initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange – we would like to thank you, our sellers, for helping us reimagine commerce. Together, we’ve built not only a thriving marketplace, but a unique worldwide community based on creativity, entrepreneurship and helping one another," said the site's announcement.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 16, 2015 7 Comments
Thus far, the GOP presidential field officially includes three of the Senate's best. We're still waiting on the Governors to join the party. It's still early, but how are the current candidates fairing on the fundraising front? Ted Cruz The first to hop in the race, Cruz raised $ 4.3 million in his first 9 days of campaigning. A respectable start. If Governor Perry jumps in the race as anticipated, Cruz might lose some of his early fundraising steam. Governor Perry has a well established donor base in the Lone Star State that could suck funds away from Cruz. According to the Dallas Morning News, although Cruz has the early lead, he's in for stiff competition as the field continues to expand. By all accounts Governor Bush will be the moneyed man to beat.
Still, Cruz is expected to trail other major candidates in the fund-raising battle. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush reportedly had a $100 million fund-raising goal for the quarter that ended March 31, while Cruz would be happy to get $50 million for the entire campaign.
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