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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 September 22, 2014 105 Comments
It's long been a rallying cry of the right: if you want to be on the public dole, you should be able to pass a drug test. You've seen the memes and the bumper stickers. Sounds good, right? Governor Walker of Wisconsin has proposed his plan that would require drug testing for those seeking food stamps and unemployment benefits. According to The Daily Signal:

But the most controversial points are the governor’s proposals to require drug testing for individuals filing for unemployment and for “able-bodied, working-age adults requesting food stamps” through the state’s FoodShare public assistance program.

The bottom line, Walker says, is the bottom line: Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for public assistance programs for individuals who can’t pass a drug test.
Taxpayers should have a great say in where their tax dollars are spent, that's not a point I disagree with and is a principle I will always advocate. When it comes to mandatory drug testing as a contingency for public assistance though, I'm not convinced it's a good idea for two simple reasons: 1) requiring drug testing is an expansion of government 2) it doesn't address the problem of why people are seeking public assistance to begin with.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 20, 2014 7 Comments
Post-September 11, George W. Bush encouraged Americans to return to normalcy. Go shopping, go to restaurants, don't be afraid. When the dust settled and it became clear that our enemy was al Qaeda, the joke became, "don't let the terrorists win!" Not in the mood to grab a beer? "Don't let the terrorist win!" And so on. When I read this article, "don't let the terrorists win!" seemed an appropriate response. The Washington Post reported:
Busch Gardens — which operates parks in Williamsburg, Va., and Tampa, Fla. — said in a statement that it has stopped using the props during Howl-O-Scream, an event that is already underway at the Virginia park. “Many of the scenes depicted at Busch Gardens’ Howl-O-Scream are graphic in nature, but they are fictional and are not intended to provide commentary on current world events,” Busch Gardens Williamsburg communications manager Kevin Crossett said in a statement. “The props in this year’s event were designed and purchased several months ago. “In light of recent events, some of these props have the unintended consequence of appearing insensitive and are being removed. Busch Gardens apologizes for any offense they may have caused.” Howl-O-Scream is scheduled to open in Florida later this month, according to the park’s Web site.
But it looks like this was all the fault of the Virginia Gazette who posted pics of the exhibit on their front page:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 19, 2014 15 Comments
Earlier this week the Democrats released a video contrasting Rand Paul statements against Rand Paul's previous statements on a handful of issues. The video is a hatchet job and of course some things are taken out of context, but it highlights a major issue that's been bugging me about Rand Paul. Take a look at the video the Democrats put together: It's not uncommon for politicians to change their views, platforms, or opinions on issues. They are there to serve at the will of the people (at least in theory). Take ISIS for example. ISIS is a different kind of threat to American interests now than they were a few years ago. A policy change from isolationism to one that's considering an intervention strategy is warranted and few would fault Paul for changing his mind on this particular issue. My criticism of Paul is not because he's become an interventionist in a Libertarian body, after all, people don't flock to presidential election polls all riled up about foreign policy. My criticism is not that he's changed his mind. My criticism stems from Rand Paul's refusal to 1) admit his policy stance has changed and 2) handle this policy shift gracefully rather than indignantly.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 19, 2014 16 Comments
The Scots voted against independence yesterday. At the time the BBC called the referendum election, the No votes (those voting against the referendum for independence) had garnered 54% of the votes counted. Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party and leader of the pro-independence movement, conceded the referendum loss late last night: There was nothing else on the ballot, just the question of independence.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 18, 2014 11 Comments
This is a horribly heart-breaking story. Seven young Persians filmed their own rendition of "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, but in totalitarian regimes like Iran's, no good deed goes unpunished. A CNN Reporter tweeted the following: According to the Iran Wire, six of the accused were sentenced to six months in prison and 91 lashes, while the remaining offender was sentenced to a year in prison and 91 lashes:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 16, 2014 20 Comments
For all the times we've been told Obamacare does not fund abortion, a new GAO report proves exactly the opposite. Salon wrote this fantastic piece decrying anti-choice activists who bought into the Obamacare-abortion myth, and last night the Washington Examiner released their findings related to the GAO report and recapped the debate as follows:
Again and again, during the congressional debate, Obamacare defenders promised: Obamacare subsidies won't subsidize abortion; customers will be able to choose insurance plans that don't cover abortion; Obamacare subsidies, if they want to pay for abortion coverage, will be billed separately. A new GAO report shows that Obamacare is failing on these counts. Warning of "bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost," for instance, President Obama told Congress in 2009: "And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up – under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place."
The Examiner summarized the GAO report:
Customers in five states have no abortion-free plans available to them, and in many states, customers can't tell which plans cover abortion and which don't. In Washington State, for instance, the state's exchange bills customers on behalf of insurers--and the exchange covers abortion with federal tax dollars. The GAO found: "the exchange’s billing system was not assessing any premium to individuals whose premiums are fully subsidized under the law if these individuals are enrolled in QHPs that cover non-excepted abortion services."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 16, 2014 14 Comments
Our friends over at National Review pulled this little gem. We've officially entered foreign policy bizarro world when the Department of State is absolutely refusing to work with Syria, but is open to working with Iran to fight (however they're defining that) ISIS. Blitzer asked Department of State Spokesperson Marie Harf if Syria was receiving intelligence through a third party, to which she responded, "Not at all. I can categorically reject that. We will not work with the Assad regime, we will not share intelligence with them, we will not coordinate with them. Period. Full stop. I don't want to be any clearer than that."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 15, 2014 31 Comments
If the FDA's overreach into cheese doesn't compel you to grab your pitchfork and take to the streets, nothing will. Last week, we wrote about the FDA's French cheese tyranny. Looks like the situation is only becoming more dire. According to The Gazette, a cheese factory that specializes in cheese curds is shutting down. They're not being shut down for a specific health violation or anything like that -- they make good cheese. They're closing up shot because compliance with new federal regulations will require more cash than they have to spend:

“From advanced food safety and quality assurance requirements to more stringent environmental regulations that would require substantial capital investment,” said Gary Weihs, president of Proliant Dairy Ingredients, in a news release. “As a result of the changing environment, we have decided to close the Kalona facility. This is a difficult decision and we will continue to explore other opportunities for the facility.”

The facility employed 50 people. Impacted employees will receive compensation, severance pay and job placement assistance, the release said.

John Roetlin wouldn’t comment on the factory’s fate.

“It is what it is,” Roetlin said when contacted Thursday. He added the Kalona Cheese House, the factory’s store, will remain open despite the factory’s closure.

A group of Amish and Mennonite farmers established the operation as co-op in 1946, according to the website. The farmers hired Swiss immigrant John Roetlin, Sr. to run the factory, which opened in 1947.

This isn't just about cheese, it's about a community who will now be forced to find other ways to make memories.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 15, 2014 30 Comments
We've covered the recent push for Scottish independence here, here, and here. With the referendum vote coming up Thursday, the 'No' votes have abandoned polite dissuasion in favor of a more direct approach. The 'Yes' camp has also become a little less shy. First, John Oliver. If you're not familiar with the former Daily Show personality, know that he's a bit colorful. He did a fantastic job of hilariously summing up the relatively complicated independence situation in a segment on his HBO show (slightly NSFW):

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 14, 2014 6 Comments
UPDATE: The final count is in, at the bottom of the post. If you've been following, Mandy Nagy, our beloved editor was recently hospitalized following a stroke. Mandy is invaluable not only to Legal Insurrection, but to the movement. Our good friends at FTR Radio have organized a Thunderclap set to go off at 3:00 PM EST tomorrow. You must sign up at the link before that time to participate: This is a pretty spiffy social media campaign. By joining the Thunderclap page for Mandy, you are essentially prescheduling a Facebook or Twitter post to be sent at 3:00 EST tomorrow along with everyone else participating. Hence, the "thunderclap" is when all these messages go off at once. It's very easy and takes about 90 seconds. Currently, the "Get Well Mandy" campaign is trending in the top 5 Thunderclap campaigns. The more, the merrier!

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 11, 2014 14 Comments
Last month we started writing about the mounting support for Scottish independence. Depending on which poll you read and who you listen to, an independent Scotland is either imminent or a pipe dream. Saturday, YouGov released a poll showing the pro-independence movement with a lead over the British loyalists. Although the "yes" votes only had a two point lead over the "no"s, this marked the first time the independence movement had polled above their competition. And there was much rejoicing. YouGov Scottish Independence Poll Just last night, another poll was released with the opposite results. According to the Daily Record:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 09, 2014 35 Comments
Is there anything the government doesn't ruin? I had the pleasure of living in France for some time. While there, I gained an appreciation for their amazing array of cheeses. So vast is their cheese spread that Charles de Gaulle is famously quoted as saying, "Comment voulez-vous gouverner un pays qui a deux cent quarante-six variétés de fromage?" ("How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?"). But I digress. According to The Week, the FDA is out to regulate away our freedom to partake in French cheese:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 06, 2014 71 Comments
This is a thing that's actually happening at Columbia University in New York City. Rather than taking her allegations of rape to local law enforcement, Emma Sulkowicz has decided to carry around her mattress as long as her alleged rapist remains on campus. Sulkowicz didn't report the rape immediately after it happened, but was convinced to report the alleged incident months later. The case was ultimately dismissed by university authorities. According to the Columbia Spectator:

As long as her alleged rapist goes to Columbia, Emma Sulkowicz, CC ’15, plans on carrying a navy blue, extra-long twin-sized mattress wherever she goes.

Entitled “Carry That Weight,” the mattress is both the visual art major’s senior thesis and a step in her journey to come to terms with her experience. Over the past year, Sulkowicz has become a prominent critic of the University’s sexual assault adjudication policies, retelling her story to various administrators and media organizations to raise awareness.

“The past year of my life has been really marked by telling people what happened in that most intimate and private space,” Sulkowicz said, referring to the dorm bed where she was allegedly raped on the second night of her sophomore year.

“I was raped in my own dorm bed and since then, that space has become fraught for me. I feel like I’ve carried the weight of what happened there since then,” she added.

Months after her alleged rape, Emma reported the incident to the school. Her case, one of three individual complaints filed against the same student, was closed, and her rapist found “not responsible.” She appealed, but it was denied and the decision was upheld.

Sulkowicz has turned what she says was a horrible tragedy into performance art.

Performance art that will suffice as her senior thesis. A fact I'll just leave there without commenting on further:

Sulkowicz plead her case to the university. But why didn't she go to the police?

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 05, 2014 12 Comments
Yesterday, we wrote about Senator Paul's apparent departure from isolationism.  Last night, the Kentucky Senator chatted with Sean Hannity about his foreign policy stance:
"I've been trying to say that for the last four years of public life that I'm I'm neither an isolationist nor an interventionist. I'm someone who believes in the Constitution and believes America should have a strong national defense and believes that we should defend ourselves. But when we do it, we should do it the way the Constitution intended. That's the President should come before Congress and make the case for war." "There's a big difference between that and between doing it unilaterally. And I think the example of Libya, with both Hillary's support and President Obama's support shows all the unintended consequences when they around the Constitution."
I don't disagree we should respect Constitutional channels, but objectively speaking, this is just political posturing and an attempt to define his position as diametrically opposed to that of both Mrs. Clinton and the administration. Which is smart. But his argument seems to hinge on the fact that we would not be in this nightmare of a foreign policy situation had President Obama gone to Congress. Perhaps he's right. He continued:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 03, 2014 12 Comments
Advocating for foreign intervention is not something you usually hear from libertarian poster children like Senator Paul. And yet, that seems to be what he's preaching. From WaPo:
"If I were president, I would call a joint session of Congress," Paul told the AP. "I would lay out the reasoning of why ISIS is a threat to our national security and seek congressional authorization to destroy ISIS militarily."
Good. Someone should have a plan to deal with those monsters. But as WaPo points out, Paul is supposed to be the only non-interventionist in the bunch of potential 2016 contenders. Compare Paul's statement to the rest of the pack of GOP potential candidates, as compiled by WaPo:
Chris Christie: ""The ISIS situation is one that deserves a really detailed answer, which I'm not going to give you while walking down the boardwalk and taking selfies." Marco Rubio: "If we do not act now to assist our Iraqi partners and moderate Syrians who oppose ISIL, as well as utilize our own forces to directly target ISIL’s leadership, the result will be more suffering and tragedy for our people.”
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