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Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 07, 2015 37 Comments
There was an attack on a French satirical publication, Charlie Hebdo, using automatic weapons and a rocket-propelled grenade, killing 12. The killers are at large as of this writing. The NY Times reports:
Masked gunmen with automatic weapons opened fire in the offices of a French satirical newspaper on Wednesday in Paris, the police said, killing 12 people and then escaping in a car. President François Hollande said the attack on the weekly, Charlie Hebdo, was “without a doubt” an act of terrorism and raised the nationwide terror alert to its highest status. He said that several terrorist attacks had been thwarted in recent weeks.... A senior French prosecutor said the victims included two police officers, including one assigned to guard the newspaper’s offices and its top editor. The second officer was shot and killed as he lay on the ground, the police said.... [A] United States official noted that, according to social media reports, the attackers did refer to the Prophet Muhammad, saying he was “avenged.”
(More video and Twitter updates later in post)

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Posted by Mike LaChance on January 07, 2015 14 Comments
The new Republican congress was sworn in yesterday, and one of their first orders of business is an attempt to advance plans for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Unfortunately, obstructionist Democrats in the Obama administration are standing in the way of progress. Timothy Gardner and Richard Cowan of Reuters reported:
Republicans push Keystone bill, White House threatens veto Republican senators kicked off the new U.S. Congress with legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline to bring oil from Canada, but the White House promptly threatened a veto. With Republicans assuming full control of Congress on Tuesday after victories in the November elections, they have put Keystone at the center of their agenda and plan weeks of debate. They believe that the public spotlight on Keystone will pressure President Barack Obama to eventually approve the project. The White House was adamant that Obama would not sign the Keystone bill. "There is already a well-established process in place to consider whether or not infrastructure projects like this are in the best interest of the country," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
A vote is set for Thursday.

Posted by New Neo on January 07, 2015 7 Comments
Promises, shmomises:
An air of secrecy surrounds the fate of 53 political prisoners whom Cuba agreed to free in its historic deal with the United States last month, as Washington and Havana’s refusal to publicly identify the dissidents is fueling suspicion over Cuba’s intentions... ...[O]fficials said a prisoner release was not a precondition for renewing diplomatic ties. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that not everyone on the list has been set free yet, but it was always understood that they would be released “in stages.”... The lack of transparency is contributing to a growing sense of concern that Havana will not follow through on its promises.
If there's "a growing sense of concern," it's certainly not on the part of Obama administration officials, for whom this quid pro quo was almost certainly for show. As in many of its "negotiations" with countries hostile to the US, the appearance of getting something in exchange for what we were giving up was only a thin veneer, because the administration was determined to capitulate.

Posted by Amy Miller on January 07, 2015 2 Comments
Yesterday afternoon, a man walked into the El Paso VA Health Care System clinic and shot a doctor before turning the gun on himself. Via Fox 14 El Paso:
At a press conference Tuesday evening, Maj. Gen. Stephen Twitty confirmed the shooter was killed along with one victim. Fort Bliss did not confirm the identity of the victim. As previously reported, El Paso police were assisting Fort Bliss with reports of an active shooter at the VA clinic adjacent to William Beaumont Army Medical Center. The incident was reported at 3:10 p.m., Twitty said. Fort Bliss Military Police, the El Paso Police Department and federal law enforcement officers immediately responded as the VA carried out its response plan.
One blogger with the Dana Loesch Radio Show caught the anti-gun left trying to make the most of things:
Much like the scene of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, both WBAMC and the adjacent VA clinic are gun free zones. But that didn't stop the anti-gun crowd from diving in immediately to capitalize on the tragedy: Screen Shot 2015-01-07 at 2.36.06 AM

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 06, 2015 15 Comments
Texas State Representative Marsha Farney filed a bill yesterday that would make the cowboy hat the official hat of Texas. Dr. Farney is an Aggie and former educator from Georgetown, Texas (a smallish town north of Austin). According to the Houston Chronicle:
The proposed resolution cites the significance of the cowboy headgear in Texas' history as one reason for naming it the State Hat, as well as its prevalence in modern Texas culture. "The cowboy hat symbolizes both the state's iconic western culture and the uniqueness of its residents, and it is indeed appropriate that this stylish and dignified apparel receive special legislative recognition," the resolution reads. This is not the first time the cowboy hat will be discussed in the Texas State Legislature. In 2013, the House voted unanimously to make Garland the Cowboy Hat Capital of Texas due to the city's "hat-making talent."
Garland, Texas is home to Stetson, one of the most iconic cowboy hat-makers in existence. No word yet on whether or not proper cowboy hat-wearing etiquette will also be codified. During the last legislative session, Dr. Farney introduced HCR 53, which designated Pecan Pie as the State Pie of Texas. The measure was greeted with some...interesting...debate:

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Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 06, 2015 15 Comments
One chapter in the saga of Stanley Cohen has closed, another started. Cohen was to report today to prison to begin serving his 18 month sentence, the result of a plea bargain, for concealing and failing to report large cash transactions and failing to file income tax returns for several years. Cohen pledged during his criminal case that he would rather serve 18 months than dine with a Zionist. Twitter - @StanleyCohenLaw - Rather serve 18 mos than dine with Zionist Cohen left for prison with his supporters singing the tune that he was a political prisoner.  Cohen still sees himself that way as well, with the last tweet from his Twitter account, as of this writing, showing him sharing the claim that he's a political prisoner: https://twitter.com/mayasdreams/status/552325601328373760 On January 5, 2015, Cohen issued a statement via Twitter, ending with these words:
Pray for Palestine and Bless the Resistence. Up the Rebels everywhere. They cannot stop us.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 06, 2015 14 Comments
Californians are starting 2015 with a fresh round of new taxes, and the inauguration of Democrat Jerry Brown for an unprecedented fourth term as California's governor. As part of his inaugural address, Brown derided critics of the state's current economy, and conjured up a fantasy of balanced budgets and robust employment.
“We are at a crossroads,” Brown said in his inaugural address. “With big and important new programs now launched and the budget carefully balanced, the challenge is to build for the future, not steal from it, to live within our means and to keep California ever golden and creative, as our forebears have shown and our descendents would expect.”
However, the true fiscal picture for the Golden State is a little less dreamy:

Posted by Amy Miller on January 06, 2015 42 Comments
Last night Charles Krauthammer took the outgoing Congressional leadership to task over their legacy of obstructionism. Watch: Via the Daily Caller (emphasis mine):
”It sounds like Schumer is saying that, for the first time in living memory, we’re going to have amendments introduced in the U.S. Senate, which is a remarkable constitutional achievement and it’s because Harry Reid is gone. The grown-ups are now in control of the Congress. This idea that we should be using American oil in America is so idiotic, it’s almost unworthy of talking about. So what we’re going to do is we’re going to use the Canadian oil and if we export it, which we will because we have a surplus, we’re going to substitute gallon by gallon American oil, it makes no sense at all.” “Look, I think what’s really important here is that Republicans are going to have a chance to show how retroactively for the last six years everything has stopped in the Senate. Democrats stopped it, Harry Reid stopped it and they effectively acted as a shield to make Obama look as if he wasn’t the one stopping stuff. Well now he’s going to be exposed because he’s going to have to exercise the veto. Schumer and the others could prevent a few of the bills from landing on the president’s desk with these ridiculous amendments on Keystone, for example. But I think it will expose them. But the days of hiding under Harry Reid’s desk are over.”
This is important, and it's not a point that should be ignored by conservatives. Starting today, we'll be holding accountable not just a newly-minted leadership, but a President who now finds himself in the minority after six comfortable years of playing pen-and-phone politics.

Posted by Amy Miller on January 06, 2015 37 Comments
Here we go! The Washington Post has the updated whip count as of 10 this morning. They have also confirmed Reps. Amash and Webber as firm "nos," giving the anti-Boehner coalition 2 more votes toward an alternative candidate. Boehner is predicted to lose more votes than in his previous bid for speaker, but he also has more room for error:
As Politico reports, at least 12 House Democrats are skipping the speaker vote to attend former New York governor Mario Cuomo's (D) funeral. That increases the threshold for pushing Boehner to a second ballot to at least 35, making him even safer. That 35 number, we would emphasize, is a minimum. Boehner needs a majority, so if some members don't vote, Boehner's threshold for winning will be lower than the usual 218 votes — as it was in 2013, when it was 214 votes. So if some of these Boehner opponents vote for nobody — as Labrador and Mulvaney did in 2013 — that hurts Boehner less.
We'll be providing live updates and reactions to the vote, so stay tuned! You can watch a live stream of the House session here, via C-SPAN. UPDATES The live stream is up!

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 06, 2015 45 Comments
Alan Dershowitz, along with others including Prince Andrew of Britain, were accused in a court filing involving convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein of participating in forced sex with a 17-year old. The court filing was not criminal, and was not even under oath. It merely was a motion suing prosecutors for agreeing to a light sentence for Epstein, without any evidence accompanying the allegations. I'll let you in on a not-so-secret lawyer secret: When you want to smear someone without having to back it up, just put it in a court pleading. Statements made in court pleadings are absolutely privileged, meaning you can't be sued for them. If you make the statements out of court, for example in a press release, then you can be sued. If you make the statements under oath, you could be subject to criminal prosecution. But keep it in the court pleadings, and you likely are home free. Step two in the tactic is to make sure the media picks up on the court pleading, so that the smear gets out into the public domain while your hands are clean. In high profile or celebrity cases, local media typically will be alerted to new filings either from routine checks or a tip off from the clerk. If all else fails, the tactic may require a nod and a wink to local reporters by the lawyer. It is the perfect smear tactic, which leaves the target short on options. The target is not a party in the case, and has no right to clear his or her name in the court case. All that is left is public denials that the accusations are false, but that also helps to spread the accusations.

Posted by Jeffrey Herf on January 06, 2015 1 Comment
[WAJ Intro: University of Maryland Professor Jeffrey Herf helped lead the battle to defeat anti-Israel resolutions at the American Historical Association, as we wrote about on Sunday.  I asked him to submit this Guest Post to recount the events and strategies, in the hope they will inform others facing similar anti-Israel tactics.] --------------- By now readers of this blog probably know that by a vote of 144 to 51 with three abstentions, members of the American Historical Association, at their Business Meeting of annual meeting in New York City on January 4, 2015, decided not to pursue two resolutions that denounced aspects of the policies of the government of Israel. For readers of Legal Insurrection it is important to point out that the defeat of these resolutions was due to procedural issues that were also matters of substance. Details of the events are readily available in the reports by The New York Times, Inside Higher Education, Algemeiner and The Tablet . It is the most decisive defeat that groups supporting resolutions denouncing Israel have suffered since “BDS” (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) efforts gathered steam in American universities in recent years. This is a preliminary anatomy of its defeat.

Posted by David Gerstman on January 06, 2015 5 Comments
In an op-ed published in The New York Times on Monday, former American peace negotiator Dennis Ross wrote that it's time to hold the Palestinians responsible for turning down peace.
Since 2000, there have been three serious negotiations that culminated in offers to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Bill Clinton's parameters in 2000, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's offer in 2008, and Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts last year. In each case, a proposal on all the core issues was made to Palestinian leaders and the answer was either "no" or no response. They determined that the cost of saying "yes," or even of making a counteroffer that required concessions, was too high. Palestinian political culture is rooted in a narrative of injustice; its anticolonialist bent and its deep sense of grievance treats concessions to Israel as illegitimate. Compromise is portrayed as betrayal, and negotiations -- which are by definition about mutual concessions -- will inevitably force any Palestinian leader to challenge his people by making a politically costly decision. But going to the United Nations does no such thing. It puts pressure on Israel and requires nothing of the Palestinians. Resolutions are typically about what Israel must do and what Palestinians should get. If saying yes is costly and doing nothing isn't, why should we expect the Palestinians to change course?
Abbas, as Ross noted, torpedoed the American-sponsored peace process last year (just as former Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni recently recounted) only to see political pressure brought to bear on Israel. Ross ends by asking, "But isn't it time to demand the equivalent from the Palestinians on two states for two peoples, and on Israeli security? Isn't it time to ask the Palestinians to respond to proposals and accept resolutions that address Israeli needs and not just their own?"

Posted by Amy Miller on January 05, 2015 25 Comments
During this past Saturday's services for fallen NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu, officers again turned their backs on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as he stood to speak. The silent protest did not please Mr. Mayor, and now he's speaking out against the officers who chose to pivot away from the stage and screens. Mediaite has video of De Blasio's remarks:
The mayor said he didn’t think it was appropriate, nor “the right and decent thing to do,” considering the back-turning takes away from the officers being honored and their mourning families:
“Those individuals who took certain actions this last week––or last two weeks, really––they were disrespectful to the families involved. That’s the bottom line. They were disrespectful to the families who had lost their loved one. And I can’t understand why anyone would do such a thing in a context like that.”
De Blasio added it was also disrespectful to the people of New York.
You can also watch here (embedded), via the Daily Mail:

Posted by Amy Miller on January 05, 2015 22 Comments
Tomorrow's vote for Speaker of the House will bring a welcome end to what has become our long national right-wing nightmare. According to reports from multiple sources, Boehner has drawn more fire this time around, and can expect to lose as many as 20 votes when the chamber finally votes.
“Washington is broken in part because our party’s leadership has strayed from its own principles of free market, limited government, constitutional conservatism,” new Rep. Dave Brat of Virginia wrote Sunday on the conservative website Breitbart.com. “While I like Speaker Boehner personally, he will not have my support for speaker,” added Brat, who shocked the GOP establishment by toppling then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a primary last year. Brat had once said he would back Boehner. “I want us to have [a] leader who is willing to stand up for conservative, religious principles I believe in,” North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones told a home-state newspaper Saturday, citing Florida Rep. Daniel Webster as a potential alternative. So far, Boehner’s two announced challengers are Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and Florida Rep. Ted Yoho — both long-shot candidates at best. Gohmert said he would fight “amnesty tooth and nail,” while Yoho said Boehner is part of the “status quo.”
Big words from a small group of fighters, but it doesn't look like their efforts have drawn enough support from those who we expect to support Boehner. Here's what the vote breakdown looks like right now, courtesy of WaPo: Screen Shot 2015-01-05 at 6.01.38 PM The anti-Boehner coalition needs 29 votes to force a second ballot; they currently have 10.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 05, 2015 42 Comments
The fight to emasculate men rages on amongst our "feminist" friends. Lisa Bonos' editorial How to Find a Feminist Boyfriend is simply the latest example. For all the talk of equality and partnership, there's not one single mention of equality or partnership. True to form, the "feminist" definition of the aforementioned virtues translates into something along the lines of "this relationship is all about me and my insecurities as an individual, so either you're cool with that or this isn't going to work out, because feminism." That being said, Bonos' editorial provides a hilarious take on dating, albeit unintentionally. So how does one procure a feminist boyfriend? Apparently, to find this evasive diamond in the rough, one must adhere to a handful of principles, the first being to define what you want.
Is he a feminist if he proclaims, on a first date, that he could see himself taking his wife’s last name? (Maybe his own name is pretty generic.) If he insists on doing the dishes after you’ve cooked dinner together but proceeds to whip the dish towel at your ass, is that playful or objectifying? (Both.) Is he sexist if he cancels an Uber ride because a female driver is on her way to pick the two of you up? (Definitely.)
Let us pause and reflect upon the fact that whipping a dish towel is now considered objectifying behavior. But don't worry, it gets worse.

Posted by Amy Miller on January 05, 2015 29 Comments
Teachers in the San Francisco United School District are concerned about race. In an area where schools are almost 90% non-white, you'd expect that an emphasis on cultural diversity would happen by default, and that teachers wouldn't need the help of an institutionalized curriculum to get the job done. But in the wake of the Ferguson protests and rise of the "Black Lives Matter" movement, five teachers from the San Francisco area have teamed up to provide other educators with a guide to teaching about the Michael Brown shooting, the Ferguson protests, and race-based social justice movements. From the San Francisco Examiner:
Chalida Anusasananan, a teacher librarian at Everett Middle School who helped launch the resource guide, said both incidents and the subsequent protests have hit home with many public-school students in San Francisco, where nearly 90 percent are nonwhite. "We wanted to make sure that teachers had a means to teach what students were talking about with their families, or seeing on the news, or feeling every day," Anusasananan said. The resources, posted to the SFUSD's LibGuide page, includes the grand jury documents, poetry, videos and graphics, readings, and lesson plans and activities for elementary, middle and high school students. "What has to happen first and foremost is to create a safe space in the classroom for young people to talk about these things," said Karen Zapata, a humanities teacher at June Jordan High School and a co-founder of the grass-roots organization Teachers 4 Social Justice. "What's happened affects young people on an emotional level."
I took a look at the online curriculum provided by the five teachers, and it's pretty much what you'd expect to see. I took some screenshots: Screen Shot 2015-01-05 at 1.08.01 PM
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