The door the academic boycotters opened to let academic freedom leave is now open for politicians to rush in....
"Our No. 1 focus is to make sure, when it comes to the Senate, that we have no loser candidates," Chamber strategist Scott Reed told the Journal. "That will be our mantra: No fools on our ticket." The financial support, which The Hill reported would pour at least $50 million into the campaigns of centrist GOP candidates, is part of an aggressive approach toward tea party Republicans since the 16-day October government shutdown.One of my favorite Sunday morning activities is hearing the talking heads get excited about the impending Tea Party demise, complete with interviews with Washington's intelligentsia. The Atlantic article, Why the Tea Party Isn't Going Anywhere, is replete with many examples of our "extremism" and offers insight to the continued outrage at our existence.
...[A]t least three successive national election defeats will be necessary to even begin to break the determination and leverage of Tea Party adherents. Grassroots Tea Partiers see themselves in a last-ditch effort to save “their country,” and big-money ideologues are determined to undercut Democrats and sabotage active government. They are in this fight for the long haul. Neither set of actors will stand down easily or very soon.Despite the authors' tainted view of our motives, these three principles are at core of most Tea Party activism: 1) Individual liberty 2) Fiscal responsibility 3) Limited government In fact, San Diego blogger Dean Riehm reminds everyone about the benefits of limited government and sensible deregulation with a brilliant piece on the craft beer industry.
A Muslim youth group and a neighborhood authority led two separate anti-Santa campaigns on the eve of Christmas in Turkey. The Istanbul University branch of a group called Anatolia Youth Association (AGD) released an illustration of a Muslim youth punching Santa Claus in the face and announced that it would make a press statement against Christmas on Dec. 26 in Istanbul. The group announced the event with a statement titled “Muslim, return to yourself!” adding that “Christmas is a Christianity practice.” The group also criticized the celebration of New Year’s Day, saying that the two dates were “mixed” and “united.” It claimed that celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Day was “wrong” and constituted “a blow dealt to Muslimism.”The Blaze reports the image has spread to the Balkans:
Some end of year lists: YAF Lists The Top 10 Politically Correct Offenses on Campus in 2013 Greg Lukianoff Lists the 10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech in 2013 13 Outrageously Dumb Campus Moments of 2013 In a college world of Kangaroo courts and a War on Men, this...
Massachusetts -- whose government was one of the staunchest supporters of ObamaCare, and whose health plan arguably was the model for the law -- is refusing to pay any more until a working website is delivered. A spokesman for the Massachusetts exchange told FoxNews.com that CGI's system is "far from where it needs to be" and the state will apply "nonstop pressure" to fix the problems. ...Vermont, too, is withholding $5.1 million to CGI over its failure to meet deadlines, according to a report in the Boston Globe. CGI, though, claims that neither state is fully cutting off its funding.
The United States rises to declare before the General Assembly of the United Nations, and before the world, that it does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act.... There will be time enough to contemplate the harm this act will have done the United Nations.You be the judge as to whether Goucher was channeling Moyhihan. The Goucher statement was circulated in an all campus email that was forwarded to me (emphasis added):
December 27, 2013 Dear Members of the Goucher Community: We are writing to express our strong concern about, and outright disapproval of, the recent vote by the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli academic institutions, apparently as a result of some of its members’ disapproval of certain policies of the Israeli government. Goucher College, as we try to make clear by our words and actions daily, stands for open discussion, research, and inquiry about all issues, international or domestic, in every intellectual and political domain. The free exchange of ideas and opinions is essential to liberal arts education and to our very existence as an academic community. We would, of course, be outraged if any such boycott were launched against all American colleges and universities by any association of alleged scholars anywhere in the world, out of disagreement with a US military engagement or other element of American foreign or domestic policy.
An A&E statement to The Hollywood Reporter read: As a global media content company, A+E Networks’ core values are centered around creativity, inclusion and mutual respect. We believe it is a privilege for our brands to be invited into people’s home and we operate with a strong sense of integrity and deep commitment to these principals. That is why we reacted so quickly and strongly to a recent interview with Phil Robertson. While Phil’s comments made in the interview reflect his personal views based on his own beliefs, and his own personal journey, he and his family have publicly stated they regret the “coarse language” he used and the mis-interpretation of his core beliefs based only on the article. He also made it clear he would “never incite or encourage hate.” We at A+E Networks expressed our disappointment with his statements in the article, and reiterate that they are not views we hold.
Organizers of One Boston, the mysterious political action committee that dumped $480,000 into the Boston mayoral campaign during its final days, confirmed to the Globe today that the American Federation of Teachers funded the group’s efforts to swing the race in favor of Mayor-elect Martin J. Walsh. In a complicated series of transactions, the AFT — a powerful national teachers union — gave the money to One New Jersey, a teachers union-backed political action committee. That group then donated those funds to One Boston, a local affiliate set up to spend money in the Boston mayoral race.
We reported last week on how Judge Leon in the District of Columbia ruled against the government, preliminarily, on NSA mass data surveillance. I cautioned against the media assumption that the ruling would survive: The judge issued a preliminary injunction, but stayed his decision pending appeal....
Not new, but reflects the pathology behind the anti-Israel BDS movement....
The President of Trinity College in Connecticut is one of over 50 University Presidents who have issued a very strong statement rejecting the academic boycott of Israel. The Trinity statement consisted of a letter to the President of the American Studies Association, and reads (emphasis added): To The Immediate Attention...
Here are some questions from Victor Davis Hanson on how the precedents Obama has set could result in a changed America even after he leaves office: The nation has grown used to the idea that what the president says is probably either untrue or irrelevant —...
Egypt's security authorities launched a sweep of arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members on Thursday and warned that holding a leadership post in the group could now be grounds for the death penalty after it was officially declared a terrorist organization, stepping up the government's confrontation with its top political nemesis. The announcement came as a bomb exploded in a busy intersection in Cairo Thursday morning, hitting a bus and wounding five people. Though small, the blast raised fears that a campaign of violence by Islamic militants that for months has targeted police and the military could turn to civilians in retaliation for the stepped up crackdown. The terrorist labeling of the Brotherhood — an unprecedented step even during past decades when the group was banned — takes to a new level the government's moves to crush the group, which rode on elections to dominate Egypt's politics the past three years until the military removed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July after massive protests against him.The move was made shortly after officials blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for a suicide bombing at a police headquarters north of Cairo that killed 16 people, as well as a series of other events highlighting increasing political tensions ahead of a key Jan. 14-15 referendum on a revised constitution.
Note: You may reprint this cartoon provided you link back to this source. To see more Legal Insurrection Branco cartoons, click here. Branco’s page is Cartoonist A.F.Branco ...
I've had my disagreements with Glenn Greenwald as to the term Israel Firsters and the Snowden damage to our foreign intelligence operations, but this is pretty funny. Via Mediaite, Greenwald Snarks at MSNBC: I Defend Snowden Like You Defend Obama ’24 Hours a Day’ (h/t...
Compares to bus driver who challenged Rosa Parks...
