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Posted by Mike LaChance on May 29, 2015 21 Comments
If you were paying attention to American politics in 2008, you couldn't escape from the viral Obama "hope" poster created by Shepard Fairey. His simple image became a symbol of the junior senator's presidential campaign and was proudly displayed by Obama supporters on Facebook. Unfortunately for Fairey, his love of Obama was doomed to wither on the vine. Adam B. Lerner of Politico:
'Hope' poster artist Shepard Fairey says Obama let him down Shepard Fairey, the street artist behind the famous “Hope” poster that went viral during Barack Obama’s historic 2008 presidential run, said that the president has not lived up to his expectations. In an interview with Esquire, Fairey acknowledged that “Obama has had a really tough time” but said he’s “not even close” to having lived up to the “Hope” poster created for him. “I mean, drones and domestic spying are the last things I would have thought [he’d support],” Fairey added in the interview, posted Thursday. He tempered his response saying that he’s met the president a few times and that he thinks he is a “quality human being,” adding that his presidential record has been largely dictated by things out of his control. “I’m not giving him a pass for not being more courageous, but I do think the entire system needs an overhaul and taking money out of politics would be a really good first step,” Fairey said.
That's funny. I remember when Democrats touted Obama's fundraising prowess as proof of his ability to be president. Don't worry, Shepard. I'm sure Hillary Clinton will get big money out of politics. (Pun intended.)

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Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 29, 2015 8 Comments
That's Legal Insurrection reader Joel E. who lives in a town near Tel Aviv, and reached out to me when he read I was heading for Israel. The featured image is us at a really good falafel place near the beach. I also saw Legal Insurrection favorite and sometimes contributor "Anne in Petah Tikva" and her husband.  Except that night, she was "Anne in Tel Aviv." William Jacobson and Anne in Petah Tikva It's a tough life, but someone has to live it.

Posted by Jay Caruso on May 28, 2015 9 Comments
Fact: Bill and Hillary Clinton aren't going to give up information voluntarily. When the media did its job back in April, the Clinton Foundation was forced to refile multiple tax returns after it was discovered that the Foundation failed to disclose donations from foreign governments. Still, gathering new information about the Foundation remains a monumental undertaking, even for mainstream media outlets. The latest information to come out is the news that long time political confidant Sid Blumenthal was paid $10,000 per month by the Clinton Foundation while he was offering up unsolicited foreign policy advice to Hillary Clinton on Libya. From Politico:
Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime confidant of Bill and Hillary Clinton, earned about $10,000 a month as a full-time employee of the Clinton Foundation while he was providing unsolicited intelligence on Libya to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to multiple sources familiar with the arrangement. Blumenthal was added to the payroll of the Clintons’ global philanthropy in 2009 — not long after advising Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign — at the behest of former president Bill Clinton, for whom he had worked in the White House, say the sources. While Blumenthal’s foundation job focused on highlighting the legacy of Clinton’s presidency, some officials at the charity questioned his value and grumbled that his hiring was a favor from the Clintons, according to people familiar with the foundation. They say that, during a 2013 reform push, Blumenthal was moved to a consulting contract that came with a similar pay rate but without benefits — an arrangement that endured until March.
If this was the only money Blumenthal was earning, it may not have been too eye-opening; but Blumenthal was also being paid by two organizations run by David Brock:

Posted by Amy Miller on May 28, 2015 4 Comments
We've provided extensive coverage of the BDS movement's battle against the inclusion of Israeli-made products at food cooperatives. Most recently (and closest to the hearts of the Legal Insurrection team,) the members of the Ithaca-based GreenStar Food Co Op won a very hard-fought battle against BDS activists fighting for a referendum that called for the boycott of Israeli products. A Co Op in Olympia, Washington, however, has found itself on the opposite end of the spectrum. Members of the Olympia Food Cooperative sued the Co Op's board after board members decided to protest Israel's alleged human rights violations via a Co Op-wide boycott of Israeli-made products. Plaintiffs claimed that the boycott violated the Co Op's own boycott policy; the board, however, invoked Washington's anti-SLAPP statute, claiming that the plaintiffs had filed a frivolous lawsuit as a way of suppressing public discussion. The plaintiff group was SLAPPed (I had to) with over $200,000 in fines and penalties, but appealed, claiming the SLAPP statute itself was unconstitutional. Guess what---they won.

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Posted by Andrew Branca on May 28, 2015 37 Comments
I don't suppose it will ever end--the mainstream media will continue to cover trials involving deadly force, will continue to blindly label them Stand-Your-Ground cases, and will continue to demonstrate its utter ignorance of what Stand-Your-Ground actually is. The most recent example comes in the form of a Stand-Your-Ground piece written by a David Love, whose bio describes him as: "David A. Love is a writer based in Philadelphia. His work has appeared on CNN and been published by The Grio, The Progressive, and The Guardian." Looks impressive, no? Well, maybe the bio does. The piece on Stand-Your-Ground? Not so much. I realize that David is almost certainly not responsible for the headline of the post, but let's start there--after all, it's how the piece is introduced to the reading public. It's also where the piece goes immediately off the rails:  "These are the States That Have 'Stand Your Ground' Laws."  This point is then helpfully illustrated, literally, with a graphic image of the United States color coded to indicate which states qualify as "Stand-Your-Ground" states:  red-states are purportedly SYG, blue-states are purportedly non-SYG.  (That image is the featured pic at the top of this post. Interestingly, it was sourced in the Love's piece as being from al Jazeera.com.  Huh.) Before we dive into the errors of the illustrative map, however, let's take a moment to refresh our recollection on what Stand-Your-Ground actually means, legally speaking: it simply means that the state does not impose a legal duty on an otherwise lawful defender to make use of a safe avenue of retreat before they can use force in defense of themselves or another. Got it? Good. Now let's take a look at the 16 states indicated in the map as blue, and thus purportedly non-SYG that impose a legal duty retreat.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 28, 2015 11 Comments
Continuing on my tour in northern Israel, on May 27, 2015, I visited the Bedouin village of Khawaled led by our guide Hassan Khawaled. Hassan Khawaled Most of the people in the village have the village name as a last name, or a variant, such as the first Israeli Bedouin diplomat Ishmael Khaldi, who is from the village. Khawaled is east of Haifa, in the Galilee region. Khawaled Village Northern Israel Map The Bedouin are Arab Muslims with a unique culture. Most Israeli Bedouins live in the south of the country in the Negev region, but there is a sizable presence in the Galilee. The Israeli Bedouin are not obligated to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces, but many volunteer to do so. Bedouin have achieved great success in the IDF, and are particularly known as trackers at the borders.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 28, 2015 17 Comments
If it seems like we're writing at least one "so and so formally announces they're running for president in 2016" post each day, that's probably not far from accurate. Waiting with baited breath for the Republican presidential candidate who can serve up the pro-abortion, anti-gun vote? Wait no more! Your endurance has proved fruitful. New York's former Governor George Pataki announced his presidential candidacy today. "My vision wasn't a partisan vision, it was about people, about what we can accomplish together," Pataki says in his first campaign video which was also released this morning. "If we are to flourish as a people, we have to fall in love with America again," he concludes. The video is 4 minutes long and has underlined words. That's pretty much all I'll say about it. But it's here to sate your curiosity:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 28, 2015 18 Comments
Now that former Senator Rick Santorum has dived into the presidential pool, I thought I would check the status of a candidate who is already in -- Carly Fiorina. Early in her candidacy, Professor Jacobson noted she was "rocking it" by taking the fight to Hillary Clinton. She continues to show the rest of the field how to target the elusive Democratic candidate. For example, Clinton has been less than responsive when it comes to addressing the American press. In contrast, Fiorina held a press conference...directly outside a Clinton event.
First the former Hewlett Packard chief executive popped up outside the Marriott hotel where Clinton was just about to kick off a campaign event, offering to take questions from the press since Clinton so often won't. Forty-five minutes later and six blocks down the road, there Fiorina was again, bragging to the South Carolina House Republican caucus about what she'd just done as they chewed on grilled chicken at a Hilton hotel luncheon. "I've answered probably 420-plus questions on the record about everything, from, 'Is a hot dog a sandwich?' -- I flubbed that one, I will tell you -- to what I would do about ISIS and everything in between," Fiorina said. "And Hillary Clinton has answered maybe 15 questions."

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 28, 2015 20 Comments
America's foreign policy in the Middle East is falling apart and health insurance premiums are skyrocketing under Obamacare, but the liberal media feels your pain, America. As usual, it's all about Obama. Amber Phillips of the Washington Post:
President Obama’s legacy is increasingly in legal jeopardy President Obama's second-term agenda, it seems, is in the hands of the courts. Same-sex marriage. Obamacare. Climate change. And now immigration. And in many cases, there is significant doubt about whether his signature initiatives will stand legal scrutiny. The latest blow to Obama's second-term plans came Tuesday when a federal appeals court in New Orleans denied the administration's request to move forward with implementing his expanded executive action on immigration to defer deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants.
That's funny. He didn't run on gay marriage. In fact, Obama said in a 2008 interview with pastor Rick Warren that he believed marriage was between a man and a woman.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 27, 2015 35 Comments
Former Senator Rick Santorum formally launched his presidential bid in Pennsylvania this afternoon. Making his announcement to a sizable crowd of enthusiastic supporters, Santorum made a tall order. "I'll offer a bold vision for America, the one that's clear and conservative, that has plans for reform and that has a proven track record." His multi-faceted platform included "scrapping the corrupt federal tax code and the IRS that goes with it." In exchange for the current tax code, Santorum proposed implementing a flat tax. Reviving industry, shrinking government, reducing spending, and revoking every executive order and regulation that "cost American jobs" were also priorities outlined by Pennsylvania's former Senator.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 27, 2015 23 Comments
Keep in mind our hard earned money goes to pay people to come up with these ideas. According to Roll Call's Hannah Hess, Chairwoman of the House Administration Committee, Rep. Candice S. Miller, R-Mich., the Capitol could really use a few giant surveillance blimps. In April, intrepid Florida mailman Douglas Hughes successfully landed a gyrocopter on the Capitol's West Front Lawn. Hughes was gyrocopting around D.C. in protest of the campaign finance system. Authorities were unaware of the gyrocopter's approach until Park Police spotted the UFO hovering over the Lincoln Memorial about 25 minutes before Hughes landed on the Capitol's lawn.
Hughes’ gyrocopter appeared on the FAA’s radar as a simple dot. “All available information about the slow moving, irregular symbol made it indistinguishable from other non-aircraft radar tracks,” FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta testified. On the raw-air traffic radar feed, the gyrocopter looked like a flock of birds, weather event, kites or a balloon.
Of course every single action requires a disproportionate government reaction so clearly, the only way to stop unsolicited gyrocopters is to employ a bevy of giant blimps to provide aerial surveillance of the Capitol grounds... Hess reports Rep. Miller visited, "U.S. Customs and Border Patrol ground stations along the Southern border in January and was amazed at the clarity of the Tethered Aerostat Radar System, or TARS. She is suggesting the “sophisticated technology” might suit the Capitol."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 27, 2015 30 Comments
I like a lot of what Rand Paul has to say; I'm on board with limited Constitutional government, auditing the Fed, thoughtful deregulation, and major tax reform.  When it comes to foreign policy and America's place in the world, however, I can't think of another Republican with whom I disagree more.  (Except maybe his father.) And I'm not alone.  Rand has been trying to affirm his strength on national security precisely because there are a lot GOP primary voters who do not share his isolationist leanings.  As Kemberlee noted in September of last year, Rand's "I'm neither an isolationist nor an interventionist" may not have appeal . . .  to either side. His rhetoric has changed rather dramatically from last fall, however.  Now he's going so far as to argue that Republican hawks "created" ISIS.  This statement is getting a lot of attention, and for good reason: it's an amazing and strange thing to say.  Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on May 27, 2015 17 Comments
For what may be the first time ever, the United States has expressed a wholehearted and enthusiastic interest in Soccer. ...too bad that interest manifested in the form of an investigation, accusations, and mass arrests. C'est la vie. Today at dawn, seven of FIFA's (the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or the governing body of worldwide soccer) most powerful executive were dragged out of their Zurich hotel rooms and arrested under suspicion of corruption. If the results of a long-term investigation by the FBI pan out, they could be facing up to 20 years in prison. The Daily Beast explains:
The U.S. authorities probed what officials described as a 24-year scheme by senior executives to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer. Indictments on 47 counts against 14 people, including racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering, were unsealed in federal court. The indictment details a $10 million payment to induce one executive to vote for the 2010 World Cup to be hosted in South Africa. There are also allegations that bribes were paid to help Sepp Blatter secure the FIFA presidency in 2011.

Posted by Amy Miller on May 27, 2015 11 Comments
When it comes to federal regulations, I find the "it shouldn't be this complicated!" argument to be flawed. Of course it's going to be complicated---the federal government regulates activity concerning 50 states, a military, a rambunctious federal District, and foreign relations. They've got a lot going on; hence, the rule making can't really be confined to a few bullet points. That being said, at some point, you have to turn off the spigot and get serious about just how many rules and regulations the federal government should be allowed to throw at the American people. Earlier this year the Mercatus Center, a free-market economic think tank at George Mason University, created an infographic to illustrate just how ridiculous the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) has become---and why they had to create a computer program just to read all of it. Take a look: CFR-read-time-RegData

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 27, 2015 48 Comments
Fuzzy Slippers recently pondered if, based on false press reports on the status of the "culture wars," the Tea Party faded away prematurely. Based on my experiences with a vibrant California Tea Party group, I would argue that the conservative citizen movement transmuted. The form changed, based on the needs and political situation of its many members. Yet, several people who have been active in the movement agree that the "culture wars" have played a role in the current status of the Tea Party. Shane Atwell, who writes often about Tea Party-related matters for the San Diego Local Order of Bloggers, makes an interesting connection between social conservatism and the "fading" Tea Party.
I think a lot of the fire left the Tea Party when it got absorbed by the conventional conflict between lefties and conservatives on social issues. It started out as being about limited government (abolishing the federal reserve, getting the government out of housing, reducing taxes, reducing regulations, abolishing Obamacare) and morphed into being about maintaining or expanding government (border fences and marriage restrictions). The leftist media focused on these last and might have known that it would help diffuse the Tea Party.
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