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Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 29, 2015 14 Comments
Monday evening, Governor Perry introduced Navy SEAL of 'Lone Survivor' fame at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library's Perspectives on Leadership Forum. There, they discussed their unique bond. "These are extraordinary people that step forward and serve their country," Perry said of military service personnel. "Tonight you are going to hear from one who simply understood that he owed a debt. A debt to the individuals who had come before him. In the form of William Barrett Travis at the Alamo, his father before him, my dad, all of those men and women who have stepped forward to keep this country free. We are incredibly blessed... we are in the presence of some extraordinary beings. And none more so than the one you'll hear from tonight. Just a regular, common, country boy who found himself in extraordinary circumstances." Gov. Perry's relationship with Luttrell is one markedly different from the overplayed politician parades soldier for political expediency schtick. In 2007, two years after he survived a Taliban onslaught in Afghanistan, a distressed Luttrell showed up at the Texas Governor's mansion and asked to speak with Rick Perry.

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Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 29, 2015 14 Comments
Things just got real up in here. You might remember the hubbub surrounding Sen. Tom Cotton's so-called "47 Traitors" open letter addressed to Iranian officials. You know, the one where Cotton, et al. were proved right? Well earlier today, Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (the same dude who thought it would be cute to lecture the Senate about the U.S. Constitution), took a verbal swipe at Sen. Cotton. As U.S. News and World Report writes:
The Iranian foreign minister addressed the U.S. domestic political debate regarding the negotiations, referencing a letter sent by 47 Republican senators to leaders of the Islamic republic warning that any deal agreed to by President Barack Obama could be undone by a subsequent administration. The initiative was led by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark, whom Zarif called out by name Wednesday, saying with a chuckle that upon completion of a deal Iran expects sanctions to be dropped in the U.N. Security Council “whether Sen. Cotton likes it or not.” “We don’t want to get bogged down into the domestic procedures in the United States. I’ve studied and lived in the U.S.,” Zarif said. “I know enough about the U.S. Constitution and U.S. procedures, but as a foreign government I only deal with U.S. government. I do not deal with U.S. Congress.”
Shortly thereafter, Sen. Cotton released a statement urging Congressional approval of any Iran deal, and reiterating the need to oversee President Obama's efforts:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 29, 2015 26 Comments
As readers know, "microaggression" theory is the rage on campuses. We have covered the phenomenon extensively: At Brandeis University, the Asian American Students Association (BAASA) sought to put the spotlight on and fight microaggressions through an installation on the steps of the Rabb Graduate Center, as announced on Facebook:
We have put up an installation at the Rabb steps to bring attention to microaggressions that are frequently heard in and out of the Brandeis community. These words are microaggressions, targeted towards Asian (American) students drawn from our very own experiences on this campus. Our experiences connect us and create the need for Asian (American) communities and resources.

Posted by Amy Miller on April 29, 2015 15 Comments
This week, the Senate recognized the passing of the first 100 days of the new majority Congress. We've covered the good, the bad, and the ugly here at Legal Insurrection (read it here). The Senate has hit a lot of high points. In addition to passing an actual budget, they passed the hotly-contested Keystone XL pipeline approval, advanced bipartisan trade legislation, and shined light on the plight of domestic human trafficking. Stark differences from Harry Reid's Senate abound. Watch the primed-for-fundraising video the NRSC produced to highlight those differences: Of course, that's not the whole story.

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Posted by Amy Miller on April 29, 2015 16 Comments
Last week, Iron Man and Avengers: Age of Ultron star Robert Downey, Jr. walked out of an Avengers promotional interview after British journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy decided to dive into the motivation behind a comment RDJ made in 2008 about the correlation between incarceration and progressivism. Here's the offending utterance:
“I have a really interesting political point of view, and it’s not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can’t go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You can’t. I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics every since.”
It was an ambush seven years in the making. Here's what happened when Guru-Murthy decided to go all 60 Minutes on the actor during what was billed as a superhero movie promo spot:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 29, 2015 12 Comments
The Los Angeles Daily News reports that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will officially toss his hat into the presidential ring Thursday. The self-described 'democratic socialist' is currently 73-years-old, making Sanders just a few years older than Hillary Clinton who is now 67. Former Rhode Island Governor, Lincoln Chafee, who seems to have dropped off the map after kind of sort of announcing candidacy, is 62-years-old. Though he's registered as an independent, all accounts suggest Sanders will run on the Democratic ticket. According to Vermont's NPR News Source, the first to report Sanders' forthcoming candidacy:
VPR News has learned from several sources that Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday. Sanders will release a short statement on that day and then hold a major campaign kickoff in Vermont in several weeks. Sanders' entry into the Democratic race ensures that Hillary Clinton will face a challenge to win the support of the liberal wing of the party. Sanders' basic message will be that the middle class in America has been decimated in the past two decades while wealthy people and corporations have flourished.

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 29, 2015 12 Comments
If you're wondering why the Democratic Party's presumed 2016 nominee has been quiet lately, you're not alone. Hillary Clinton has answered only seven questions from the media since announcing her run for president. Zach C. Cohen of National Journal:
Here Are All Seven Media Questions Hillary Clinton Has Answered During Her Campaign Most of the media questions Clinton has answered have focused on policy (the exact type of inquiry she recently encouraged reporters to focus on). They've touched on ongoing trans-Pacific trade negotiations, campaign finance, and foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation... Here are all seven: Question 1: "Secretary Clinton, your reaction please to these book allegations? Did foreign entities receive any special treatment for making any kind of donations to the foundation or your husband?"—ABC in Keene, New Hampshire, April 20

Posted by Amy Miller on April 28, 2015 3 Comments
Earlier this month, we covered the anniversary of the mass abduction of 200 Chibok schoolgirls by Boko Haram. Nigeria's new government made waves when it tacitly acknowledged that those kidnapped were most likely not coming home. Factoring in the time missing, and the nature of the captors, holding out hope was no longer a realistic option. For the girls taken last year, that's likely still the case; but today, hope remained alive for almost 300 other women and girls who were rescued by the Nigerian military. The captives were rescued during operations by the Nigerian military to seize four Boko Haram camps in the Sambisa Forest in northeast Nigeria. From Fox News:
A military source who was in Sambisa told The Associated Press that some of the women rescued Tuesday fought back, and that Boko Haram was using armed women as human shields, putting them as their first line of defense. The Nigerian troops managed to subdue them and rounded them all up, and some said they were forced to fight for Boko Haram, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Boko Haram also has used girls and women as suicide bombers, sending them into crowded market places and elsewhere. A month ago the Nigerian military began pounding the Sambisa Forest in air raids, an assault they said earlier they had been avoiding for fear of killing the Chibok schoolgirls, or inciting their captors to kill them.

Posted by Amy Miller on April 28, 2015 13 Comments
We are head-first through the looking glass, people. The Ayatollah of Iran is trolling us on Twitter:
Addressing the 20th annual General Congress of Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) Commanders and Staff on Sunday, Iran’s Supreme Leader criticized American police, saying their “authority is wrong and oppressive.” Khamenei took to Twitter to rail against U.S. law enforcement who he says utilize “power and tyranny” to “kill innocents” amid ongoing riots over the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. ... Khamenei, who is a Muslim Cleric, touted the religion of Islam for its balance of mercy and justice. “Power with cruelty isn’t favored by #Islam. #Police should embody justice and mercy while being potent,” he tweeted.
Behold, the power of the internet:

Posted by Amy Miller on April 28, 2015 79 Comments
No matter which way you come down on the issue of gay marriage, today was a big day at the Supreme Court. Those who wished to sit in the courtroom (and who weren't lucky enough to hold membership in the Supreme Court Bar, or the media) camped for several nights outside the courthouse, and today, protesters (both hopeful and defiant) gathered on the steps to make their voices heard. Obergefell v. Hodges is consolidated with three other cases, and the issues at hand are pretty simple compared to those contained in other cases we've covered:
1) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? 2) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?
So, here we are. "Finally," some would say. Is gay marriage an idea whose time has come, or an idea that should be left untouched by the government? Both parties had their day in court today, and the ebb and flow of oral arguments revealed a divide in the Court that has left many SCOTUS watchers hesitant to make a prediction.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 28, 2015 26 Comments
Through the course of my daily interneting, I read that President Obama thanked the Japanese for karate, karaoke, and emojis. Yes, the little happy faces you send in text messages. I chuckled to myself, figured it was parody, and went on my merry way. This afternoon I was horrified to learn it was not parody I encountered, oh no. President Obama in his infinite foreign policy wisdom (I'm assuming his narcissism believes as much), actually thanked Japan for emojis and karate (pronounced the same way he says Pakistan -- terribly). But then he also gave Queen Elizabeth II an iPod, so the bar is set pretty low here. "Today is a chance for Americans, especially our young people, to say thank you for all the things we love from Japan." said President Obama, who according to Politico, was speaking at an arrival ceremony with with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. And then things took a turn for the excruciatingly embarrassing, "like karate, karaoke, manga, and anime, and of course emojis," Obama continued.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 28, 2015 41 Comments
I know this has made the rounds quite a bit, but it's still worth playing. Kind of speaks for itself, but here's the story:
This Baltimore mom saw her son throwing rocks at police on television. That didn't sit well with her. The video shows the mother repeatedly striking her boy, chasing him as he tries to walk away.
Mom may have humiliated her son on national TV. And that may be the best thing that ever happened to him. I don't know the son's age, but would anyone be surprised that, if he's under 18, child services will come down hard on MOM? Here's the video:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 28, 2015 15 Comments
Earlier this morning, Al Arabiya reported Iranians boarded a U.S. ship. That report quickly changed to, "Iran has opened fire at a U.S. cargo ship and directed it to Bandar Abbas port on the southern coast of Iran." The BBC, Reuters, and the Telegraph picked up the story, regurgitating Al Arabiya's scoop. So what really happened? While the story is still developing, here's what we know thus far: The ship was not a U.S. cargo ship. The cargo vessel is part of the Maersk line.

Posted by Jay Caruso on April 28, 2015 22 Comments
Peter Schweizer's book, 'Clinton Cash' has not even been released yet, but has created quite a stir in the DC community. With Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign officially launched, the book is raising a lot of questions about Hillary's time as Secretary of State and the Clinton Foundation.  Schweizer says his book lays out a pattern when foreign interests - both government and business - made large donations to the Clinton Foundation and paid Bill Clinton large sums of money while having business before the state department. Schweizer was on Morning Joe today and was being peppered with questions from Mika Brzezinski and Mike Barnicle about "proof", "evidence" and a "smoking gun" (like George Stephanopoulos did) Schweizer tried to remind them he's just an author and doesn't have the ability to do the digging to establish a legal case. They continued to press and that's when Joe Scarborough had enough:

Posted by Amy Miller on April 28, 2015 31 Comments
The Baltimore riots are raging, which means that the parade of talking heads, activists, and local flacks has begun in force. Last night, Sean Hannity spoke to Adam J. Jackson, a Maryland activist and CEO of Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, about whether or not what's happening in Baltimore is a movement anyone with a brain should be involved in. Jackson quickly got to his talking points, and made a valiant attempt at ignoring the issue at hand:
“Is this the type of protest you want to be a part of?” Hannity asked Jackson, as footage of burning looting debris played in the background.
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