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Posted by Mike LaChance on September 26, 2015 50 Comments
When John Boehner shocked everyone yesterday by announcing he would step down as house speaker, even Obama dropped his partisanship long enough to say a few nice things. No such courtesy was afforded by former house speaker Nancy Pelosi who used the opportunity to bash House Republicans as extremists who want to shut down the government. Carolyn May of Breitbart reported:
Pelosi: Boehner Resignation 'Indication of Disarray in GOP' Speaking to reporters Friday, Pelosi called Boehner’s resignation “a stark indication of the disarray of the House Republicans.” She continued, adding that it is “a demonstration of [House Republicans’] obsession with shutting down government at the expense of women’s health and a sign of the failure of the House Republicans to be willing to engage in dialogue for the good of the American people and for us to move forward.”

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Posted by Amy Miller on September 25, 2015 7 Comments
Fledgling campaigns tend to focus on the most high profile primary states---Iowa and New Hampshire---as a source of both grassroots power and media exposure. They're good places to build a profile; but what if your candidate already has a huge profile, and the campaign experience to match? You expand, of course. Vice President Joe Biden's "Draft Biden" PAC is doing just that. Biden has been teasing the idea of a presidential run for some time now, and a senior advisor to the PAC confirmed to the media today that the outfit is staffing up its operation in the 11 states that are set to host their primary elections on "Super Tuesday."
“We’re very pleased with the organizing we’re doing in the early states. The goal of Draft Biden has always been to build out the infrastructure Vice President Joe Biden will need if he decides to enter the race," said Josh Alcorn, a former Beau Biden adviser. News of the was first reported by Reuters. "We’re looking beyond the early states, to Super Tuesday and the contests in March, and looking forward to expanding our team in the coming weeks. When he’s ready, we’ll be ready."

Posted by Amy Miller on September 25, 2015 15 Comments
Jeb Bush is lashing out against the entitlement state---but he's taking a page out of Mitt Romney's book to do it. During a town hall meeting in South Carolina last night, Bush touted Republican outreach efforts to minorities by taking a slap at the Democratic tendency to promise a lot of "free stuff" in return for votes. Unfortunately for Bush, however, Democrats (and some Republicans) were reminded of Mitt Romney's failed 2012 attempts to reach out to a broader base. Via WaPo:
"Look around this room," a man told Bush, who spoke to a mostly white crowd. "How many black faces do you see? How are you going to include them and get them to vote for you?" asked the man, who was white. Bush pointed to his record on school choice and said that if Republicans could double their share of the black vote, they would win the swing states of Ohio and Virginia. "Our message is one of hope and aspiration," he said at the East Cooper Republican Women’s Club annual Shrimp Dinner. "It isn't one of division and get in line and we'll take care of you with free stuff. Our message is one that is uplifting -- that says you can achieve earned success."
Listen:

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Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 25, 2015 2 Comments
As more details of the massive Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hack are made public, China's likely roll in the unprecedented hack is increasingly difficult to ignore. In July, Amy explored why China is at least for official purposes, off the the hook for the OPM hack.
Citing concerns over national security, the Obama Administration has decided that they will not publicly blame China for the hack, even though conventional wisdom (and a fair amount of now-public evidence) suggests that they were responsible. Officials fear that coming out in an official capacity against Beijing will compromise what evidence investigators have been able to assemble. More from WaPo:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 25, 2015 19 Comments
The FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email usage grows increasingly serious. Whether Clinton deleted emails pertinent to a Congressional investigation is only one facet of the unfolding story. Among the emails made public by the State Department, several were later upgraded to "classified." a FOIA lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch also found Hillary was not the only individual using a clintonemail.com email. Huma Abedin, one of Clinton's closest aides, also had an email address with the clintonemail.com domain that was used during Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State. Repeatedly, Clinton has said half of all emails sent from her personal email account and contained on her home-brewed server were personal in nature and thus, not passed on to the Department of State for record retention. She's also claimed that emails sent from secured government email accounts were automatically captured by the State Department. This carefully worded claim does not account for those emails sent to aides like Abedin, who we now know also used a clintonemail.com email address. What began as an inquisition into the former Secretary handled classified information on her unclassified server has been broadened to include her aides:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 25, 2015 103 Comments
Speaker John Boehner will resign from his House seat at the end of October. The Hill reports:
Speaker John Boehner told GOP lawmakers on Friday he will resign at the end of October. The embattled Ohio Republican will resign from both his Speakership and his House seat, he told GOP lawmakers at a closed-door conference meeting. "Speaker Boehner believes that the first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution and, as we saw yesterday with the Holy Father, it is the one thing that unites and inspires us all," a Boehner aide said. The aide said the Speaker had only been planning to serve through the end of last year but decided to stay on after then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) suffered a stunning primary loss. "The Speaker believes putting members through prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution," the aide said. "He is proud of what this majority has accomplished, and his Speakership, but for the good of the Republican Conference and the institution, he will resign the Speakership and his seat in Congress, effective October 30."
Watch press conference LIVE: There was supposed to be a live press conference, but it was cancelled when it was announced Boehner left through the back door: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIinDt19q2I Turns out. the press conference was held later:

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 25, 2015 5 Comments
Islamists in Bangladesh have published a hit list of bloggers and writers which includes people in Europe and America. The image above is of people in Bangladesh protesting the murder of a blogger earlier this year. Jethro Mullen of CNN reports:
Extremists in Bangladesh publish global hit list of bloggers and writers Islamic extremists in Bangladesh appear to be taking their war on secular writers and bloggers beyond the South Asian country's borders. A hit list purporting to be from the militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team has been sent out threatening people in Europe and North America. "Let Bangladesh revoke the citizenship of these enemies of Islam," a statement accompanying the list says. "If not, we will hunt them down in whatever part of God's world we find them and kill them right there." The list contains nine people in the United Kingdom, eight in Germany, two in the United States, one in Canada and one in Sweden. CNN isn't reporting any of the names on the list.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 25, 2015 35 Comments
In a stunning development, Luvelle Brown, Superintendent of Schools, Ithaca (NY) City School District, has acknowledged that serious anti-Israel agitation took place when controversial Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi appeared with local anti-Israel activists before third graders, ending in a call to activism:
"In a closing statement of how students could help, a speaker spoke of solidarity and being freedom fighters for Palestine; to bring peace and protect the future of their children."
Brown stated, among other thing, that such statements and others were inappropriate:
"The Ithaca City School District’s position is that such statements are not developmentally appropriate for third graders, nor aligned with the New York State standards. The statements were politically skewed, inflammatory, and not endorsed by the Ithaca City School District."
The full letter is later in this post. But first, the background of how we reached this point.

Bassem Tamimi and Ariel Gold

On Sunday night, September 20, 2015, Legal Insurrection broke the story how Anti-Israel activism hits elementary school in Ithaca, NY:
An uproar is brewing in Ithaca, New York, after anti-Israel activists bragged on Facebook how they managed to bring Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi to a third-grade class as part of a presentation on the suffering of Palestinian children at the hands of Israel.
That third grade event took place on Friday, September 18.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 24, 2015 12 Comments
Gallup released an interesting poll this week showing that nearly half of all Americans view government as "an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens."  Interestingly, this is "similar to what was found in previous surveys conducted over the last five years"; however, "when this question was first asked in 2003, less than a third of Americans held this attitude." Gallup reports:
The latest results are from Gallup's Sept. 9-13 Governance poll. The lower percentage of Americans agreeing in 2003 that the federal government posed an immediate threat likely reflected the more positive attitudes about government evident after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The percentage gradually increased to 44% by 2006, and then reached the 46% to 49% range in four surveys conducted since 2010. The remarkable finding about these attitudes is how much they reflect apparent antipathy toward the party controlling the White House, rather than being a purely fundamental or fixed philosophical attitude about government.
It's no accident, for example, that when Democrats start and/or renew pushes for gun control, gun and ammo sales skyrocket. Of course, this isn't just about gun control; it encompasses everything from government surveillance to over-regulation to fundamental First Amendment rights.

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 24, 2015 44 Comments
If anyone is wondering what's behind the high poll numbers for political outsiders in this election, a new poll from FOX News has possible answers. A startling number of Republican primary voters feel betrayed by the party. Dana Blanton has the details:
Fox News Poll: Outsiders rule 2016 GOP field, support for Biden nearly doubles Most Republicans feel betrayed by their party -- and show their displeasure by supporting outsiders over establishment candidates in the GOP presidential race. Real-estate mogul Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson are the favorites in the Republican race in the latest Fox News national poll on the 2016 election. Neither has held elected office before and yet the two of them -- together with businesswoman Carly Fiorina -- capture the support of more than half of GOP primary voters...

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 24, 2015 31 Comments
Pope Francis has accomplished something that is truly miraculous in this country: He has managed to bump Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton from the spotlight for a brief time. For that, I am truly grateful. I have been mulling over my thoughts about the Pope's American tour and his various statements, and I have come to the conclusion I need to view him like I view my local priest: I will listen politely, avoid getting emotionally attached, and do what my own conscience (after prayerful reflection) dictates. When I became Catholic in 2010, my sponsor warned me about getting emotionally attached to any priest. Why? Priests tend to move around quite a bit, but every one of them has something to teach you. I must admit, I'm getting quite a lesson in expectation setting and patience. Pope Francis is the first pontiff installed since I joined the church, so in that way, he is special to me. I must admit, I caught "Francis Fever". Given his humility and sincerity, it was hard not to be moved.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 24, 2015 18 Comments
Earlier this week, Ted Cruz appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  It was an interesting appearance in a few respects, but what stood out to me is how confident and relaxed Cruz remained in the face of Colbert's questions and an often hostile audience. When faced with Colbert's regurgitation of common talking points among the left about Ronald Reagan (he raised taxes and supported amnesty), Cruz took the questions in stride and explained his own stance on both issues and on conservatism more generally. Watch:
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