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Two women are running for the highest office in the land and only one has the support of liberal feminists. Despite her overuse of the gender card, Hillary's devotion to the feminist cause is largely unquestioned by her following. The conundrum is an interesting one to observe. How do feminists justify supporting one woman over another in an arena historically delegated to men? Hillary believes she's owed the White House, has served her time, and now the public ought repay her with the Presidency. She is pro-abortion, and has accomplished little outside of being elected to office or appointed to a cabinet position. Her resume is full of impressive titles but has a deficit of accomplishment. Clinton seldom, if ever, stands toe to toe with her opponents much less holds her own. The opposite is true of Fiorina. She's tough, accomplished, and has said repeatedly she hopes to earn voter support and ultimately, the White House. She doesn't see being a woman as a meritorious occurrence, nor a reason to garner votes. Preaching women are not "an interest group" in need of puffy pandering, Fiorina has even gone so far as to denounce modern feminism as a version that is "no longer working." And yet, liberal feminists aren't quite sure what to make of her. The New York Times explored the perplexing phenomena Monday:

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While riding the Sunday talk show circuit, Hillary Clinton encountered what should've been a brutal segment on her long-standing history of philosophical changes. On Meet the Press, a damning mashup called Clinton vs. Clinton would have been an uncomfortable for just about anyone one else, but not for Hillary. The former Secretary of State was at ease watching and addressing video footage of her ever-changing beliefs. Of course it didn't hurt that Todd didn't ask one single challenging question, either.

In his first interview since his surprising announcement Friday that he is both resigning his role as Speaker of the House and his congressional seat at the end of October, John Boehner "unloads on GOP 'false prophets'" on Face the Nation. Politico reports:
In his first one-on-one interview since his resignation announcement, Speaker John Boehner blasted right-wing lawmakers and groups as “false prophets” who “whip people into a frenzy” to make legislative demands that “are never going to happen.” The Ohio Republican also declared on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday that there won’t be a government shutdown this week, though he’s “sure” it will take Democratic votes to pass a temporary funding extension.
 “The Bible says, beware of false prophets. And there are people out there spreading, you know, noise about how much can get done,” Boehner said.
“We got groups here in town, members of the House and Senate here in town, who whip people into a frenzy believing they can accomplish things they know — they know! — are never going to happen,” he added.

When the migrant crisis in Europe first broke into the American media, many analysts compared it to the outpouring of refugees following other high-profile (and particularly violent) conflicts in places like Vietnam and the former Yugoslavia. They struggled to find a benchmark; but as the migrants continued to come, the numbers defied comparison, and now those monitoring the situation believe that the thousands who have already managed to gain passage into Europe represent "the tip of the iceberg" of what's to come. It's not an overblown prediction. What's happening right now in Europe far surpasses past migrations:

On top of last Monday's news that Hillary Clinton was underwater for the first time in New York state, polls released today show Hillary still losing ground against Sanders and her favorability underwater in almost all demographics. NBC reports:
Hillary Clinton has lost ground to Bernie Sanders — she leads him by just seven points with Joe Biden in the race, and 15 points without the vice president. That's down from Clinton's 34-point lead over Sanders in July and her whopping 60-point lead in June. . . . . Hillary Clinton is the first choice of 42 percent of primary voters, Sanders is in second at 35 percent and Joe Biden third at 17 percent. No other Democrat gets more than 1 percent.
The Fox News poll also show grim results for Hillary:

The Catalonia region of Spain is voting today in local elections which, while not directly an independence vote, are considered a proxy for independence support. Background on Catalonia and Spain is explained in this English-language Spanish website, An historical look at the drive for an independent state of Catalonia. This Vox-like Spanish website has a series of "cards" explaining what is going on, Catalonia explained in 21 cards. The Daily Mail reports:

This Thursday Israel’s 10-member security cabinet unanimously voted to approve a series of tougher measures against Palestinian rock and firebomb throwers. The new measures are being adopted following a heated debate this past week over what the government and police can and can’t legally do (shoot them with live fire? lock them in jail for longer periods? penalize the parents?) to crack down on Palestinian youth who hurl stone and petrol bombs onto highways and city streets with increasing impunity. There are no easy answers here, or simple solutions. According to experts familiar with these cases, rock-throwing is mostly being perpetrated by unorganized and leaderless young men, making it hard for Israel’s security and intelligence forces to prevent impending attacks. These angry Palestinian kids probably aren’t usually receiving direct orders to terrorize Jews. But they’re acting within an ideological environment that encourages and condones these attacks. In addition to incitement by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, Israeli Arab leaders incite violence by spreading falsehoods about the Al Aqsa Mosque:

People are always willing to tell you how and when to eat but the rules seem to change all the time. The newest target for criticism is eating throughout the day or "grazing" as some call it. Melissa Healy of the Los Angeles Times:
Longer fasts might help with weight loss but Americans eat all day long It's official: Americans' 24/7 culture of work, entertainment and digital connectivity now also extends to our dietary consumption patterns, new research finds. Americans' erratic, round-the-clock eating patterns, suggests the new study, have probably contributed to an epidemic of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. But they can be changed, and the restoration of a longer nighttime "fast" shows promise as a means to lower weight and better health, researchers add. In a study that detailed the consumption patterns of just over 150 nondieting, non-shift-working people in and around San Diego for three weeks, researchers at the Salk Institute in La Jolla found that a majority of people eat for stretches of 15 hours or longer most days -- and fast for fewer than nine hours a night.

After Speaker Boehner's unexpected resignation announcement Friday, the scramble to replace him is underway. Friday, Congressional members hoping to fill Boehner's shoes were frantically whipping votes and calling in favors. Boehner indicated he will not vacate his role until the end of October, leaving the House five weeks to select his replacement. Who's in and who's out?

A handful of high-profile House Republicans have indicated they have no interest in the speakership

According to the Daily Caller, Issa and Gowdy are out:
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is in the running as a potential successor to Boehner, but other members are likely to be interested in the job as well. Could a member of the Freedom Caucus become speaker? Issa does not think so.

I'm glad that I'm late to the story of Ahmed Mohamed, because others have done the work to debunk much of the media narrative of a young tinkerer and inventor wrongly singled out because he is Muslim and abused by police and the school for the crime of "being brown." The story has unfolded much like prior racial media and activist narratives. Trayvon Martin was not shot because he was a black teenager wearing a hoodie by someone who "shot first and asked questions later." That media narrative was demonstrably proven false through a lengthy public trial at which the evidence showed that Trayvon Martin was shot as he beat the crap out of George Zimmerman, Mixed Martial Arts style, as Trayvon had Zimmerman pinned to the ground, after smashing Zimmeran's head into the concrete repeatedly. The eyewitness and forensic evidence (including ballistic analysis) fully supported that Zimmerman used legally justifiable deadly force. So too, the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson was not as the media initially portrayed. An exhaustive investigation and analysis by Eric Holder's Justice Department proved that Brown was shot while grabbing Officer Darren Wilson's gun, after having assaulted Wilson as Wilson sat in his police vehicle. The Justice Department also concluded that Brown did now have his hands raised at the time of the shooting. The "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" narrative was pure mythology, yet it persists as a slogan of the Black Lives Matter movement. So getting back to Ahmed, the original racial and religious narrative played out immediately, and is believed as the gospel truth by liberals.

The headline at most websites covering Carly Fiorina's campaign today is that Planned Parenthood protesters threw condoms at Fiorina, via ABC13 in Iowa:
Planned Parenthood protesters threw condoms at Carly Fiorina today while she campaigned at a tailgate party for the Iowa Hawkeyes. The protesters, some of whom were affiliated with the women's health group and others who were supporters, were dressed in pink and waved pink pom-poms as they followed the Republican presidential candidate around the tailgate, chanting "Carly Fiorina offsides for telling lies" and "women are watching and we vote."
https://twitter.com/JordynPhelps/status/647828621474725888 Expect to see more such Code Pink-style tactics against Fiorina. But to me the more interesting story is how Fiorina faced down a woman who confronted her face-to-face, via CNN:

Pope Francis continued his American tour, touching down in Philadelphia this morning to ride by Fiat-motorcade to the downtown Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul and celebrating Mass for about 1,600 people. In his homily, the papal homily encouraged a greater role for women and laity:
The pope stopped by a nearby seminary for a rest after presiding over a Mass at Philadelphia’s cathedral in the morning, where he called on women and youth to play a greater role in strengthening the Catholic Church in America, while keeping the institution’s existing authority in place. In his homily, the pope singled out the story of Katharine Drexel, a Philadelphia-born heiress who became a nun and then, after her death, a saint. Pope Francis told the story of how Drexel had asked Pope Leo XIII for help with American missions and the pope replied, 'What are you going to do?' At Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Francis repeated that question in Spanish, “y tu?” — and what about you? — again and again as he reflected on the church’s role in a changing society and urged the faithful to support women and youth.

Bill Clinton has something of a historical role reversal. Whereas in the 1990s it was Hillary complaining of the vast right wing conspiracy against Bill, now it's Bill complaining of the vast right wing conspiracy against Hillary. The New York Times reports, Bill Clinton Blames G.O.P. and Press for Wife’s Email Woes:
Former President Bill Clinton blamed Republicans who hope to undercut his wife’s presidential chances and a voracious political news media uninterested in substance for the furor surrounding Hillary Rodham Clinton’s use of a private email account and server while she was secretary of state. “I have never seen so much expended on so little,” Mr. Clinton said in a taped interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that will be shown on Sunday. The network released excerpts on Saturday afternoon. “She said she was sorry that her personal email caused all this confusion. And she’d like to give the election back to the American people,” Mr. Clinton said. “I think it will be all right. But it’s obvious what happened.”

On Wednesday, Ted Cruz published an article at Politco that skewered the Republican party's "politics of surrender."  He writes:
In 2010, we were told that Republicans would stand and fight if only we had a Republican House. In 2014, we were told that Republicans would stand and fight just as soon as we won a majority in the Senate and retired Harry Reid. In both instances, the American people obliged. Now we’re told that we must wait until 2017 when we have a Republican president. Like Charlie Brown and the football, this disconnect explains the massive frustration with Washington. The American people do not believe Republicans will actually do what we say we will do.
And this, of course, is why 62% of Republican voters feel betrayed by the GOP.  Despite historic victories handed to Republicans in 2010 and 2014, the GOP refuses to do what they campaigned they'd do and what voters sent them to Washington to do: stop Obama's agenda. These "campaign conservatives," to use Cruz's term, continue to have their show votes in Congress, meaningless votes intended to appease conservative voters, but then they quietly rubber stamp Obama's policies.  Cruz explains:
Alas, no. In today’s partisan Washington, there are only two important kinds of votes: show votes on legislation that has no chance of becoming law and votes on legislation that “must pass.” (A third kind of vote—growing government and worsening the deficit—occurs as well. These votes succeed because Democrats and Republican leadership agree that expanding corporate welfare and cronyism helps the reelection of career politicians of both parties.)

Despite pleas from numerous high level progressives over the last few years, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren is still insisting that she will not run for president in 2016. In an appearance on the Late Show this week, Stephen Colbert gave Warren celebrity treatment and asked her the question one more time. Curtis Houck of NewsBusters has the story:
Stephen Colbert Cozies Up to Elizabeth Warren, Pleads with Her to Run for President Near the tail end of his opening monologue, Colbert hyped that Warren “has launched a one-woman crusade against the billionaire class” and is “like Batman, but her enemy is Bruce Wayne.” Later in the September 24 program, Colbert introduced her as “the sheriff on Wall Street” and admitted to her that “you’ve come a long way, baby, if I may coin a corporate phrase.” Reminiscing about the first time he met her, Colbert hyped that she serves as “one of the household names in American politics and yet you are one of the few household names that is not running for president of the United States.” He then pleaded: “Are you sure you're not running for the president of the United States?