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Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 14, 2014 30 Comments
I only followed in passing the incident where Ted Cruz was booed off the stage at a gathering to support Christians in the Middle East after saying that Israel was the best friend Christians have in the Middle East. The Daily Caller reported:
Sen. Ted Cruz was booed offstage at a conference for Middle Eastern Christians Wednesday night after saying that “Christians have no greater ally than Israel.” Cruz, the keynote speaker at the sold-out D.C. dinner gala for the recently-founded non-profit In Defense of Christians, began by saying that “tonight, we are all united in defense of Christians. Tonight, we are all united in defense of Jews. Tonight, we are all united in defense of people of good faith, who are standing together against those who would persecute and murder those who dare disagree with their religious teachings.” Cruz was not reading from a teleprompter, nor did he appear to be reading from notes.

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 14, 2014 9 Comments
Just when you thought that the IRS scandal couldn't get any worse, the editors of Investor's Business Daily have a new bombshell to offer. It seems the Department of Justice has been working with Maryland Democrat Elijah Cummings, but not to uncover the truth:
DOJ Working With Elijah Cummings To Protect The IRS An aide to the attorney general accidentally calls the office of the House Oversight Committee chairman, asking for help in spinning the defense of the agency whose head just said they obey the law when they can. We have commented many times of the all-too-cozy relationship between the IRS and Democratic members of the House and Senate, with members writing to the agency demanding that specific conservative groups and political action committees they find particularly irritating be subject to the "special scrutiny" that the Tea Party and other conservative and religious groups were subjected to in the ongoing scandal. Of particular interest to us has been Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking member on Rep. Darrell Issa's House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, who has made every effort to keep the committee from finding out the true extent of IRS corruption and abuse of power in its targeting of conservatives...

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!

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Posted by Amy Miller on September 14, 2014 1 Comment
Ugandan authorities on Saturday foiled an attempted terrorist attack in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala. The U.S. Embassy ordered American citizens to shelter in place as Ugandan police apprehended members of a terror cell, arresting an unspecified number of foreigners and seizing an unknown amount of explosives. Fred Enanga, a representative from the Uganda Police told the Wall Street Journal that until the investigation is over, police will increase security in public places such as hotels, restaurants, and Entebee National Airport. However, he declined to confirm whether or not the authorities had confirmed that the cell was associated with al Shabaab, and would not divulge the nationalities of the suspects in custody. Uganda is one of several African Union nations that is supplying manpower for the peacekeeping force fighting al Shabaab in Somalia. Uganda represents the largest presence in the force, and has suffered numerous threats and attacks since it joined. Most notably, al Shabaab took responsibility for the 2010 attack on the World Cup finals in Kampala, when two explosions took the lives of 76 people.

Posted by New Neo on September 14, 2014 25 Comments
The families of James Foley and Steven Sotloff have complained that the Obama administration threatened to prosecute them if they tried to ransom their loved ones. It is completely understandable why the families would be upset about this: how could any family fail to do anything possible to save their loved ones from such a horrific fate? And how could any family not be horrified that their own government might try to stop them? I don't think there's anyone who could fail to sympathize. But that doesn't mean the government isn't rightr. Therein lies the terrible ethical, emotional, and practical dilemma. By paying ransoms, the behavior of the terrorists is rewarded, more kidnappings of Americans occur, and our enemies grow richer. Plus, there is no guarantee that a group such as ISIS is actually serious about such negotiations. Every now and then the Obama administration gets it right, and this is one of those times. However, Obama's staff being who they are, they were probably especially cold and insensitive in communicating with the families. That being said, it's not clear that under the circumstances there would have been any acceptable way to say "no," or that any approach short of complete cooperation would not raise the families' ire and frustration.

Posted by Amy Miller on September 13, 2014 7 Comments
Islamic State militants have set fire to Iraq's largest oil refinery, escalating tensions in the region and raising questions about how much control ISIS could potentially gain over the world's oil supply. This isn't the first time this particular refinery has been attacked; it's a favorite target of ISIS militants. They have attacked the refinery in the past as a way of securing fuel to smuggle to parties who fund their self-declared "caliphate" in northern Iraq and Syria. Via Bloomberg Businessweek:
“The fire could go on for two or three days as there is no civil defense to put it out,” police said in the statement, without indicating how much oil the tank contained. “The situation in the refinery’s perimeter is quiet now.” ... The Baiji refinery has an installed capacity of 310,000 barrels a day and the storage tank that came under attack belongs to a group that typically contain 100,000 barrels each, Saad Al-Obaidi, a protection force personnel at the plant, said by phone. The plant stopped working in June.
The Islamic State's control over the oil supply in the middle east is affecting oil prices all over the world. According to Fox News, the inflation caused by ISIS activities has raised the price per barrel by as much as ten dollars.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2014 20 Comments
We previously covered the petition drive to put on the ballot this November a Proposition to split California into six states, Are six Californias better than one?:
The idea of splitting California into pieces is not new. The procedural hurdles are monumental, and perhaps insurmountable, but the idea doesn’t go away. CAlifornia is too damn big to govern, and has differing regional qualities that would make sense to separate out rather than bury under one state government. From a national political point of view, a break up would be a mixed bag. Yes, it might (might, not would) break the now near-permanent condition of all those electoral votes going Democrats without a fight. But as separate states, wouldn’t they be entitled to two Senator each? The more Californias there are, the more Democratic Senators we are likely to have, although depending on how the split-up takes place, perhaps it would be more neutral.
Unfortunately, the Proposition will not be on the ballot because they fell just short of the required signatures, although there may be challenges to the count. The Sacramento Bee reports, Six Californias initiative fails to make 2016 ballot:

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 13, 2014 19 Comments
Former house speaker Nancy Pelosi recently sat down for an interview with Bill Maher in which they discussed the upcoming mid-term elections. Based on Pelosi's choice of words, it sounds like the Democratic Party is expecting big losses. Chuck Ross of the Daily Caller has the details:
Nancy Pelosi: Civilization ‘In Jeopardy’ If GOP Takes Senate On the one hand, California U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi claims that Democrats are not “fear-mongers;” on the other hand, she believes civilization is doomed if Republicans take control of the Senate from Democrats in November. The former speaker of the House made those dramatic, incongruous statements on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” which aired live from Washington, D.C. Friday. Maher asked Pelosi about recent polling which shows that the GOP is likely to take over the upper chamber and asked, given gridlock in Washingon, why it matters that Democrats keep control. “It would be very important for the Democrats to retain control of the Senate,” Pelosi told Maher. “Civilization as we know it today would be in jeopardy if the Republicans win the Senate.”
Here's the video:

Posted by Andrew Branca on September 13, 2014 45 Comments
The majority Republican Missouri legislature handed yet another victory to pro-children activists yesterday, and a stunning defeat to those who would leave school children vulnerable to murderous psychopaths, when it overwhelmingly overrode the Democrat Governor's veto of legislation allowing teachers to be armed in schools, as reported by the NRA and other news sources. SB656 was passed and delivered to the Governor in May 2014, who vetoed the bill on July 14.  Yesterday the Missouri Senate voted to override the veto by a vote of 23 to 8, and the House by a vote of 117 to 39.  Supporters of the override came from both Democrats and Republicans. A full copy of the bill is embedded at the bottom of this post. SB656 allows the school district to designate teachers or administrators to receive extensive training as school protection officers as well as to carry a gun on school property. The law also included other pro-self-defense provisions, including allowing open carry anywhere in the state for people possessing a concealed carry license. This is very useful even for those license holders who never intend to openly carry, because it protects them from the risk of a brandishing charge in the even they unintentionally reveal their concealed handgun to casual observation. The law also lowered from 21 to 19 the age at which a person can obtain a concealed carry license, as well as other favorable provisions. SB656 will take effect no later than October 23.

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 13, 2014 29 Comments
Obama may be America's commander-in-chief, but he's not a leader who is interested in military strategy. Bearing all that in mind, this report from Dustin Walker of Real Clear Defense is nothing short of stunning:
Obama Rejected "Best Military Advice" As he laid out his strategy to combat the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria, President Obama rejected the “best military advice” of his top military commander in the Middle East. Quoting two U.S. military officials, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said “that his best military advice was to send a modest contingent of American troops, principally Special Operations forces, to advise and assist Iraqi army units in fighting the militants.” Austin’s recommendation was taken to the White House by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey. The White House rejected CENTCOM’s “advise and assist” contingent due to concerns about placing U.S. ground forces in a frontline role. In a press briefing Thursday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that the president had rejected Austin’s recommendation because he believes “it is not in the best interest of American national security to send American combat troops in a combat operation to act on the ground in Iraq.”
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