Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the Turkish daily Hurriyet that Turkey will sever all ties with Israel unless it gets an official apology and compensation over the May 31st attempt by a Turkish flotilla to run the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza in which nine Turkish citizens were killed when they attacked IDF soldiers attempting to board the ship.
"Either they apologise, or accept an international (inquiry) commission and its report, or relations will be broken," he said.
Davutoglu also said that Turkey would accept an Israeli inquiry - provided it also resulted in an apology and compensation. (!)
So far, the Israelis have refused. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out any apology on Friday and Israeli foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said "Israel will never apologise for defending its citizens."
"Of course, we regret the loss of life but it was not the Israeli side that initiated the violence."
Apparently Turkey's ultimatum was one of the subjects of the meeting between Davutoglu and Israeli cabinet member Benjamin Ben-Eliezer in Brussels last week.
The Obama administration is fairly keen on closing the rift between the Islamist government of Turkey and Israel, and I wouldn't be surprised if Netanyahu was subjected to pressure on this issue when he meets with President obama this week in Washington.
Monday, July 05, 2010
NASA's Obama Mission: Cater To Muslim Self-Esteem
At least that's what Charles Bolden, Obama's head of NASA, tells Al Jazeera in the above video.
Accoding to Bolden, the "foremost" task President Obama has given him is "to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with predominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering."
Exploring space and developing America's scientific achievements in that area aren't even a priority, which is why Ubama has severely cut our space program's budget. Aside from kowtowing to Islam, Obama's other goals he wants Bolden to accomplish are to "re-inspire children to want to get into science and math" and "expand our international relationships."
So it's hardly surprising that his head of NASA would go on JihadTV to inform its audience about the glories of Islamic achievement.
Under Obama, NASA is no longer expected to accomplish any breakthroughs in space, Instead, it has become a PR firm charged with outreach to the ummah.
UPDATE: As my friend Rhymes With Right reveals, Bolden apparently has another job while he's at NASA - using the agency to protect the value of his personal stock holdings.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
The Fourth Of July
Today is our country's 234th birthday.
That's not a very long time, as countries in general go, but it is an extremely long time when it comes to a country that took on the radical experiment of being a democratic republic.
In fact, there are only two republics in the world older than ours, San Marino (which once made Abraham Lincoln an honorary citizen) and Switzerland. England's parliamentary government preceded ours and has been an inspiration of democracy to the world, but the British system, with its 'rotten boroughs' and purchased seats based on patronage was very different than our idea of a democratic republic. The monarchy retained major control over Parliament until the Reform Act of 1832, and the supremacy of the popularly elected House of Commons was only really cemented with the Parliament Act of 1911.
As the world's most powerful democracy, we stand as a beacon of freedom and hope for what is mostly an unfree world.
Whether we like it or not, we really are what President Reagan called the last, best hope of mankind.
There are those today that say that America is nothing exceptional, just another country among many others, and that our best days are behind us. I beg to differ.
We are the only country who was founded not on ethnicity or on class warfare but by a creed, an idea. It was the radical belief that men are endowed by Almighty G-d with freedom to live and prosper and enjoy ordinary life - the pursuit of happiness - without the boot of tyranny on their necks. And the fact that we have become what we have become, that we have ascended to the leadership of the free world is a product of that lineage, not a mere accident.
And at the core, we still are that country, in spite of a minority of our own citizens who seek to deny it and change us into something else. I've been hanging around long enough to remember other times when the same kind of people - in fact, in some cases, exactly the same people - said the very same things when we faced great challenges. They were in grave, egregious error then and now, and time, once again, will prove it.
It is the American people who still rule our beloved Republic, and it will only fail when we decide that it has.
Let's never forget that America is a special place as we enjoy celebrating our nation's birthday. Below are the words to our national anthem, written by Francis Scott Key after witnessing the heroic defense of Fort McHenry from the British invaders. Take a minute to really read the words (especially the last three verses) and think about what they mean..because their message to us is contemporary:
The Star Spangled Banner
O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Friday, July 02, 2010
A Partisan Divide On Israel?
One of my correspondents has called my attention to a piece by pollster John Zogby, in which Zogby postulates a partisan divide on support for Israel.
Zogby's brother James is a prominent anti-Israel activist and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute, and John Zogby leaves us in no doubt where his sympathies lie in the matter..although I give him credit for disclosing it in his piece.
Briefly put, he polls Democrats as growing less and less favorable to Israel and to lean more towards President Obama's hard line towards the Jewish State, while Republicans tend to be almost overwhelmingly favorable to Israel and dislike President Obama's treatment of our ally.
In Zogby's words, "U.S. Jews, a large majority of whom remain liberal to moderate Democrats, have the wrenching choice of staying loyal to a Democratic Party that increasingly questions Israeli policies."
He also makes the point that in his opinion, demography is on the side of the Democrats, who appeal to growing segments of the electorate like young, African-Americans and Hispanics...groups he refers to as most likely to question the U.S. relationship with Israel.
So is Zogby right? Yes and no.
First of all, it's important to realize that John Zogby's record as a pollster and prognosticator is,to be polite, execrable. He's actually quotes a J-Street poll in his piece as authoritative research! I'm amazed people still give him any credence whatsoever, but at least he's honest to the point of admitting which side of the fence his posterior is sitting on.
Lumping blacks and Hispanics together as a group as Zogby does is also stoo-pid, especially as the two groups in general tend to be somewhat antagonistic to each other. Do a little research of your own on this, especially in areas like South Los Angeles, Compton, Inglewood and other areas where Hispanic demographics are overtaking once black neighborhoods and you'll see what I'm talking about.
As far as blacks go, it's an unpleasant thing to look at but there will always be a significant percentage of black anti-Semitism, especially, oddly enough, in the university educated classes. There are several reason for this, but I think the basic one has to do with envy, the appeal of Left leaning politics, the so-called black liberation theology (and in some cases, Islam), and black resentment over the prominent role played by American Jews in forming, financing and promulgating the civil rights movement.
It's a old joke that no good deed goes unpunished, but there is nothing that garners resentment in some people quite like the feeling that your accomplishments and ambitions were only realized with the help of someone else.
What Hispanic anti-Semitism there is primarily comes from the association with certain elements within the Catholic church, and is not nearly so pervasive except among those Latinos that already lean to the far Left.
He also makes the charming assumption that as Hispanics - a very diverse group whom he again lumps together - assimilate more into the American mainstream, have jobs, investments and businesses and observe what the Democrat's policies are doing to taxes, crime, consumer prices and their kid's educations that they will be stupid enough to continue to pull the lever for the Donkeys. Some obviously will, but many won't. And only as small percentage are likely to be making that decision based on something like Israel.
However, while Zogby's numbers and conclusions are always questionable, let's be quite honest. Jew hatred and Israel bashing has had a mainstream home in the Democrat party since the days of Jimmy Carter and George McGovern, the only two Democratic presidential candidates my reliably FDR worshiping Democrats-for-life parents refused to vote for...they simply didn't cast a vote for president in those elections.
As the party has migrated left, the Israel bashing and Jew hatred has increased, to the point where Barack Hussein Obama is simply a culmination of a long standing trend, even though there are still many Democrats in the rank and file who don't share these views but continue to finesse the obvious when it comes to the party's leadership.We are, after all, talking about a party largely owned these days by George Soros and his minions.
America's Jews will simply have to make a choice what they care about more, Israel and their own self-respect or the Democrat's Leftist agenda. Or to put it another way...would they rather be despised by the Left for being Jews and 'Zionists' or despise themselves for refusing to hold the political party the majority of Jews have their allegiance to to account for not supporting an issue that most American Jews still claim to care passionately about, America's alliance with Israel?
Time will tell.
Harry Potter Actress Victim Of Attempted Muslim Honor Killing
Afshan Azad, the Muslima actress who plays ‘Padma Patil’ in the Harry Potter movies has fled her home in Manchester, England after her father and brother tried to murder her.
Her father Abdul Azad, 54, and brother Ashraf Azad, 28, were charged with attempted murder, and her brother was additionally charged with assaulting his sister and causing her actual bodily harm.
The two were jailed after the assault and had been in custody until this week’s court appearance when they made bail.
The spineless Daily Mail refused to use the words 'Muslim', 'Islam' or 'honor killings' in their article, but the key to the unwritten part of the story is in the conditions of the father and brother being allowed to be released on bail.
They have to abide by an 11pm to 6am curfew and forbidden to travel to London ( where Afshan Azad is now staying with friends) or to contact what the Mail refers to as 'an unnamed man'.
The ‘unnamed man’ is obviously someone the young actress had been seeing without the permission of her male 'owners'. And as a result, her father and brother tried to kill her in an attempted Muslim ‘honor killing’.
It’s also clear that the police and the court recognize that the girl life is in deadly danger because of the restrictions on the bail.
And do her father and brother regret what they tried to do? Are you kidding, Sadiq? Listen to her brother, who actually was charged with attempted murder and assault:
‘My younger brother is going to get harassed at college. All our family is going to be harassed by the community because of this.
Speaking at the family’s semi-detached home, her brother Ashraf, a customer services adviser, said: ‘We are going to get trouble from the community now. It is bad news for our safety, her safety.
Never mind that he tried to kill his sister - it's 'oh, what will the neighbors think? Especially since we got caught.'
Actually, I think its her poisonous father and brother that are bad news for Afshan Azad's safety. And the fact that they were allowed bail. She's definitely going to need to be watching her back now with these two on the loose.
As long as people in the West are too spineless to label things for what they are and ditch this kind of absurd cultural relativism, other other women will be victimized by this - and not all of them will be lucky enough to escape with their lives the way Afshan Azad did.
Time For Michael Steele To Leave The Building
When you're in charge of the Republican national Committee and the head of the DNC says that you're out of step with almost 100% of the Republican Party and he's actually correct about it, it's way past time for you to seek other employment.
Michael Steele pulled yet another of his idiot moves at a GOP fundraiser in Connecticut yesterday, referring to Afghanistan as a war of Obama's choice and saying it was impossible to win a land war there:
"Keep in mind again, federal candidates, this was a war of Obama's choosing. This was not something that the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.
But it was the president who was trying to be cute by half by building a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be in Afghanistan. Well, if he is such a student of history, has he not understood that you know that's the one thing you don't do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan?"
Let's just forget the part about who started the war in Afghanistan...a guy by the name of George W. Bush who sent troops there as a response to 9/11.
As my regular readers know, I'm far from a fan of our involvement in Afghanistan. In fact, I've been pretty critical of it. But to say, essentially, that we can't win there while our troops are under fire is over the red line. Especially from a political operative with lots more fertile ground to explore.
True fact...essentially, Obama exploited Afghanistan during his presidential campaign for political purposes, and now has to at least go through the motions of trying to deliver. In that sense, Steele is entirely correct. But that's twisting his words around on my part to impute meaning. And in any event, while it might have been what he meant, it certainly isn't precisely what he said.
This is far from the first major gaffe Michael Steele has let come out of his genuinely stoo-pid mouth. And his tenure as head of the RNC has been marked by out of control spending and mismanagement. Meanwhile, Steele has been using his office to enrich himself by pimping lucrative speaking tours for himself, accepting paid speaking engagements while he is working as the RNC’s chairman and shilling a book he's written.
Let's indulge in some honesty here. He only got the gig in the first place because the GOP in the midst of Obamamania wanted to send a message that 'hey, we have black people too! Looky!'
He proven himself to be a dismal failure. And it's high time he went.
Secret Israel/Turkey Meeting - Is Netanyahu Undercutting The Israeli Right?
An odd item from CNN that could prove significant...
Apparently a senior Turkish official approached Israeli Industry and Trade Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer about wanting a meeting, and Ben Eliezer reported it to Prime Minister Netanyahu, who gave his permission. Subsequently, a meeting between Ben-Eliezer and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu occurred Wednesday in Brussels, Belgium.
Netanyahu did not bother to inform or consult with Davutoglu's Israeli opposite number, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. And now that the news of this meeting has leaked out, Lieberman is livid, saying "This is an insult to the norms of accepted behavior and a hard blow to the trust between the foreign minister and the prime minister."
Netanyahu claims that Lieberman was not informed due to what Netanyahu termed as technical reasons.
Of course, there's some interesting context to this.
Ben-Eliezer is a Labor party apparatchnik who is in the Israeli cabinet because of Labor participating in the coalition government with Netanyahu's Likud party, while Avigdor Lieberman is the head of another one of coalition parties, the center right Israel Beiteinu.
Not consulting with his foreign minister is not only a serious breach of political protocol by Netanyahu, but possibly a clue as to future events.
When Labor Party head Ehud Barak went to Washington recently to meet with the Obama Administration, he was given VIP treatment in sharp contrast to the way Netanyahu was treated. It's no secret that President Obama would much prefer a left leaning Israeli government to deal with as opposed a government run by the center Right Likud.
Is Netanyahu, who is meeting shortly with President Obama thinking about dumping Israel Beiteinu out of his coalition and maybe bringing in Tzipi Livni and the Leftist Kadima party to replace them in order to curry favor with Obama?
I hope Bibi is smarter than that. Aside from being the most counterproductive thing he could do policy-wise, it would cause his government to fall and undoubtedly lead to new elections at a time when Israel can least afford to be distracted.
Watcher's Council Results - Pre-July Fourth Edition
The Council has spoken! Here are the results of our weekly Watcher's Council contest.
This week's council winner was Wolf Howling for The Supremes – Guns & The War On Christianity , an interesting examination of two recent Supreme Court decisions on gun control and religious freedom.
Our non-council winning post was The Volokh Conspiracy - Constitutional Rights that Put Lives at Risk , which made the cogent point that many of our freedoms carry a certain amount of risk inherently.
Here are the full results:
Council Submissions
- First place with 1 2/3 votes! – Wolf Howling - The Supremes – Guns & The War On Christianity
- Second place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Bookworm Room - A challenge to us all to renew the philosemitic paradigm in America
- Second place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Colossus of Rhodey- Private jet liberals
- Second place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - The Glittering Eye - The Unemployment Depression
- Second place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Razor – Institutional Brain Freeze
- Third place *t* with 2/3 vote – Rhymes With Right - When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Go Golfing
- Third place *t* with 2/3 vote - Snapped Shot – Resurrecting Old Features
- Fourth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Joshuapundit – The Way Forward In AfPak
- Fourth place *t* with 1/3 vote -The Provocateur - Mr. McDonald and the Lunacy of Liberal Empathy
Non Council Winners
- First place with 3 votes! – The Volokh Conspiracy - Constitutional Rights that Put Lives at Risk submitted by Rhymes with Right
- Second place with 2 votes – LATMA - The Muslim War Council submitted by Joshuapundit
- Third place with 1 vote – Elder of Ziyon - Mondoweiss: Hate as “Progressive” Jewish Politics (Adam Levick) Submitted by the Watcher
- Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Sundries Shack - Do Conservatives Hate Journalism? No, But We Do Hate Journalists, and Rightly So. submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
- Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – NewsRealBlog – Jenn Q. Public - Object to Prostitot Culture? You’re Probably a Racist Prude submitted by The Razor
- Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Politico.com - Weigel and the Post submitted by The Glittering Eye
- Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote - Elder of Ziyon - Reuters’ lying caption submitted by Snapped Shot
- Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote - BlackFive - Ideologues and COIN submitted by Right Truth
- Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Doug Ross @ Journal - An Open Letter to the Republican Members Of The Senate Judiciary Committee submitted by Wolf Howling
The New Jobs Report - No Change From A Year Ago, After $1 Trillion In Spending
I read with interest the new jobs report which reported a slight dip in unemployment, from 9.72 to 9.5%.
Needless to say, President Obama was trumpeting this as a sign that things are getting better. Which shows me that either math was not one of his strong points at Harvard, or he is deliberately misleading the American people for his own political purposes.
The figures he's touting come from the U3 unemployment rate, which does not include over 652,000 people who have given up looking for work. The U6 Bureau of Labor Statistics rate, which does include those people is at 16.5%...nearly 30 million people are without jobs or forced into part-time work and more than 6.7 million workers have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks.
It's even more illuminating to look at the same stats, one year ago today - the U3 rate was at 9.5%, and the U-6 rate was, yes, at 16.5%. In other words, after over a trillion dollars in spending , after Obama's bogus 'stimulus' nothing has changed, the wealth of the American people has been wasted and/or diverted and we're now deeply in debt.
It's obvious that President Obama and the Democrats in Congress are absolutely clueless on how to turn things around. The biggest problem with our economy is that these out of control clowns are still employed.
Needless to say, President Obama was trumpeting this as a sign that things are getting better. Which shows me that either math was not one of his strong points at Harvard, or he is deliberately misleading the American people for his own political purposes.
The figures he's touting come from the U3 unemployment rate, which does not include over 652,000 people who have given up looking for work. The U6 Bureau of Labor Statistics rate, which does include those people is at 16.5%...nearly 30 million people are without jobs or forced into part-time work and more than 6.7 million workers have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks.
It's even more illuminating to look at the same stats, one year ago today - the U3 rate was at 9.5%, and the U-6 rate was, yes, at 16.5%. In other words, after over a trillion dollars in spending , after Obama's bogus 'stimulus' nothing has changed, the wealth of the American people has been wasted and/or diverted and we're now deeply in debt.
It's obvious that President Obama and the Democrats in Congress are absolutely clueless on how to turn things around. The biggest problem with our economy is that these out of control clowns are still employed.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Obama's Poll Numbers Plummet Again
The quote from Abraham Lincoln about fooling all of the people all of the time comes to mind.
According to RealClearPolitics' poll averages, President Barack Hussein Obama's poll numbers today are exactly tied - 46.6 approval, 46.6 disapproval.And these polls were taken after his ridiculous Gulf Spill speech but before his amnesty speech today.
However, that average includes Gallup, which always oversamples Democrats by at least 15%, and is alone is showing Obama up by a mere two points(under the margin of error)47% approval, 45% disapproval.
Factor the Gallup poll out and use the other four recent polls used in computing the average, and Prez Zero's average approval rating goes down to 45.2%, while his disapproval rating shoots up to 48.5%
Rasmussen, the most historically accurate of the pollsters shows Obama's approval at 44% ..and his disapproval at 55%, 11 points in the red.
With those kind of number, it's no wonder Obama wants amnesty for illegal aliens. He's going to need their votes.
Saudi King: Wipe Both Iran And Israel Off The Map
Yet another little tidbit from our friends, the Saudis.
during a meeting on June 5, King Abdullah, the aging autocrat of Saudi Arabia reportedly told French Defense Minister Hervé Morin that "There are two countries in the world that do not deserve to exist: Iran and Israel."
The link is to a story by Georges Malbrunot, a highly respected French Middle East correspondent with Le Figaro., who says that two independent sources confirmed King Abdullah's poisonous remarks.
Not to worry though. The White House statement following the recent Obama-Abdullah meeting reaffirmed the usual malarky about "two states living side-by-side in peace and security."
Of course.
during a meeting on June 5, King Abdullah, the aging autocrat of Saudi Arabia reportedly told French Defense Minister Hervé Morin that "There are two countries in the world that do not deserve to exist: Iran and Israel."
The link is to a story by Georges Malbrunot, a highly respected French Middle East correspondent with Le Figaro., who says that two independent sources confirmed King Abdullah's poisonous remarks.
Not to worry though. The White House statement following the recent Obama-Abdullah meeting reaffirmed the usual malarky about "two states living side-by-side in peace and security."
Of course.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Just A Note - Sonia SotoMayor Lied During Her Senate Confirmation Hearings
As we go through the Kagan circus, it's worth noting that people out of the mainstream and on the far Left have no problem fibbin' to make themselves seem more centrist when it comes to getting that life time job..
Here's the Wise Latina on the Second Amendment case during her confirmation hearings on DC vs. Heller which declared unconstitutional the ban on firearms in Washington DC and recognized individual gun rights:
Having scammed her way through her hearings, she'll now be on the Court as a reliably Leftist, activist voice for a couple of decades.
Just a reminder to consider this when you listen to any assurances coming out of Elana Kagan's mouth right now.
Here's the Wise Latina on the Second Amendment case during her confirmation hearings on DC vs. Heller which declared unconstitutional the ban on firearms in Washington DC and recognized individual gun rights:
Ah, but she's got the job now. So, let's see how the Wise Latina justified voting against the recent 5-4 McDonald vs. Chicago decision, which used Heller as a precedent and simply extended that decision to make state-level gun bans unconstitutional:
I understand the individual right fully that the Supreme Court recognized in Heller.
In sum, the Framers did not write the Second Amendment in order to protect a private right of armed self defense.
Having scammed her way through her hearings, she'll now be on the Court as a reliably Leftist, activist voice for a couple of decades.
Just a reminder to consider this when you listen to any assurances coming out of Elana Kagan's mouth right now.
Ex Justice Dept Lawyer Says AG Holder Dropped Black Panther Voting Case for Racial Reasons
Some of you may remember a fairly blatant case of voter intimidation in Philadelphia during the 2008 elections carried out by the New Black Panther Party that was caught on video, with the Panthers using nightsticks, military style uniforms and racial slurs to "make sure a black man wins this election."
About a year ago, President Obama's justice department overruled career DOJ prosecutors and forced them to drop the case against the Panthers, even though The Obama administration won a default judgment in federal court in April 2009 when the Black Panthers didn't appear in court to fight the charges.
Now, J. Christian Adams, now an attorney in Virginia says he and the other Justice Department lawyers working on the case were ordered to dismiss it.
"I mean we were told, 'Drop the charges against the New Black Panther Party,'" Adams told Fox News, adding that political appointees Loretta King, acting head of the civil rights division, and Steve Rosenbaum, an attorney with the division since 2003, ordered the dismissal.
Asked about the Justice Department's claim that they are career attorneys, not political appointees, Adams said "obviously, that's false."
"Under the vacancy reform act, they were serving in a political capacity," he said. "This is one of the examples of Congress not being told the truth, the American people not being told the truth about this case. It's one of the other examples in this case where the truth simply is becoming another victim of the process."
Ever since the case was suspiciously dropped, the United States Commission on Civil Rights has been investigating the department's decision at the request of Republican congressmen who are concerned that this sets a precedent for an escalation of voter intimidation.
In the interview, Adams also accused Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez of lying under oath to Congress about the facts in the decision to drop the case when he testified before the commission in May.
"At a minimum, without sufficient proof that New Black Panther Party or Malik Zulu Shabazz directed or controlled unlawful activities at the polls, or made speeches directed to immediately inciting or producing lawless action on Election Day, any attempt to bring suit against those parties based merely upon their alleged 'approval' or 'endorsement' of Minister King Samir Shabazz and Jackson’s activities would have likely failed," Perez told the commission.
'Sufficient proof?' All they had were videos of the unlawful activity,eyewitness accounts and a prima facie conviction based on failure to appear!
Anybody remember how we were lied to and told that Barack Hussein Obama was going to be 'the post racial president'?
Watcher's Council Nominations - June 30th, 2010
The Watcher's Council is a group of some of the most incisive blogs in the`sphere. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best posts, with the results appearing on Friday.
So, let's see what we have this week...
Council Submissions
- Rhymes With Right - When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Go Golfing
- The Colossus of Rhodey- Private jet liberals
- Right Truth - Russian Spies, No Surprise
- The Razor – Institutional Brain Freeze
- Bookworm Room - A challenge to us all to renew the philosemitic paradigm in America
- Snapped Shot - Resurrecting Old Features
- The Glittering Eye – The Unemployment Depression
- Joshuapundit – The Way Forward In AfPak
- The Provocateur - Mr. McDonald and the Lunacy of Liberal Empathy
- Wolf Howling – The Supremes – Guns & The War On Christianity
Non Council Submissions
- The Volokh Conspiracy - Constitutional Rights that Put Lives at Risk submitted by Rhymes with Right
- The Sundries Shack - Do Conservatives Hate Journalism? No, But We Do Hate Journalists, and Rightly So. submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
- BlackFive - Ideologues and COIN submitted by Right Truth
- NewsRealBlog – Jenn Q. Public - Object to Prostitot Culture? You’re Probably a Racist Prude submitted by The Razor
- NewsReal Blog – David Swindle - Townhall’s List is Most Prominent on Right, Here’s True Top 30 Conservatives the Left HATES (And 5 They LOVE) submitted by Bookworm Room
- Elder of Ziyon - Reuters’ lying caption submitted by Snapped Shot
- Politico.com - Weigel and the Post submitted by The Glittering Eye
- LATMA - The Muslim War Council submitted by Joshuapundit
- Doug Ross @ Journal - An Open Letter to the Republican Members Of The Senate Judiciary Committee submitted by Wolf Howling
- Douglas Farrah - Failing States and Despots: Interesting Reading submitted by the Watcher
- Elder of Ziyon - Mondoweiss: Hate as “Progressive” Jewish Politics (Adam Levick) Submitted by the Watcher
- Big Government – Dave Wiegel Comes Clean submitted by The Provocateur
Enjoy!
Uh Oh - Kagen Caught Altering Evidence On Partial Birth Abortion
Well, I suppose that was to be expected, considering that the president that nominated her supports infanticide over and beyond the usual abortion debate.
Back in 1996 during her days in the Clinton White House, Kagan apparently wrote a memo specifically designed to distort a physicians group’s opinion of whether partial-birth abortion is medically necessary.
A major bit of evidence cited by pro-partial birth abortion advocates is a report issued by a "select panel" of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a supposedly nonpartisan medial organization. That report said that the partial-birth abortion procedure "may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of a woman." The Supreme Court used the ACOG statement as the major example of medical opinion when it struck down Nebraska legislation outlawing partial birth abortion.
Shannen Coffin was a deputy attorney general during the Bush administration which later instituted legislation curtailing the practice, the Federal Partial-Birth Abortion Act. He was the lead attorney who defended the Bush Administration's federal partial-birth abortion act in court.
As he reveals in his NRO article, the initial draft of the report said that the ACOG panel "could identify no circumstances under which this procedure . . . would be the only option to save the life or preserve the health of the woman." So Kagan set about fixing the 'problem' by altering the language of the report itself:
Once the rabidly pro-abortion Elena Kagan, then a deputy assistant to President Clinton for domestic policy. This is what Kagan wrote in a memo to her superiors in the Clinton White House:
Todd Stern just discovered that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is thinking about issuing a statement (attached) that includes the following sentence: "[A] select panel convened by ACOG could identify no circumstances under which [the partial-birth] procedure ... would be the only option to save the life or preserve the health of the woman." This, of course, would be disaster -- not the less so (in fact, the more so) because ACOG continues to oppose the legislation. It is unclear whether ACOG will issue the statement; even if it does not, there is obviously a chance that the draft will become public.
So Kagan took matters into her own hands: incredibly, she herself appears to have written the key language that eventually appeared in the ACOG report. Coffin writes:
So Kagan set about solving the problem. Her notes, produced by the White House to the Senate Judiciary Committee, show that she herself drafted the critical language hedging ACOG's position. On a document [PDF] captioned "Suggested Options" -- which she apparently faxed to the legislative director at ACOG -- Kagan proposed that ACOG include the following language: "An intact D&X [the medical term for the procedure], however, may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of a woman."
Kagan's language was copied verbatim by the ACOG executive board into its final statement, where it then became one of the greatest evidentiary hurdles faced by Justice Department lawyers (of whom I was one) in defending the federal ban. (Kagan's role was never disclosed to the courts.)
Her answers when she was asked about it by Senator Orin Hatch could almost be part of a Monty Python Routine:
Hatch: “Did you write that memo?”
Kagan: “Senator, with respect, I don’t think that that’s what happened — ”
Hatch: “Did you write that memo?”
Kagan: “I’m sorry — the memo which is?”
Hatch: “The memo that caused them to go back to the language of ‘medically necessary,’ which was the big issue to begin with — ”
Kagan: “Yes, well, I’ve seen the document — ”
Hatch: “But did you write it?”
Kagan: “Uhh, the document is certainly in my handwriting.”
What we're looking at here is a process by which The federal courts were scammed and deliberately deceived by an almost obscene manipulation of not only the scientific evidence by the legal system. And it was done by someone who wants a lifetime job as a justice on the highest court of the land - Elena Kagan.
Lagniappe: Conservative doyen Phyliss Schlafly has a superb piece in Investors Business Daily that explains exactly how an appointment like Kagan's endangers the Constitution.
Recommended.
Tiger Sets Another Record - $750M Divorce Settlement For Elin Nordegren
Tiger Woods has reportedly come to a final divorce settlement with his ex-wife Elin Nordgren.
She gets physical custody of the kids, together with $750 million, the largest divorce payout in history. They will share legal custody, so she can't relocate them to Sweden or elsewhere without his OK. Additionally, he's not allowed to let any of his girlfriends near his three-year -old daughter Sam, three, or his one-year-old son Charlie during visitation. The only way any future relationship of Tiger Woods gets to interact with the children is if he remarries.
In exchange, Elin has agreed never to speak publicly about the divorce or the events leading up to it, so there will be no tell-all interviews or book deals.
Elin's silence was obviously a big part of the deal, leading a lot of people to speculate that there are a lot of sordid details that never made it into the press. The deal was also affected by the fact that Elin hired decent lawyers who ferreted out a lot of Tiger Wood's hidden assets, so it turned out he was actually worth more than she thought.
-Selah-
She gets physical custody of the kids, together with $750 million, the largest divorce payout in history. They will share legal custody, so she can't relocate them to Sweden or elsewhere without his OK. Additionally, he's not allowed to let any of his girlfriends near his three-year -old daughter Sam, three, or his one-year-old son Charlie during visitation. The only way any future relationship of Tiger Woods gets to interact with the children is if he remarries.
In exchange, Elin has agreed never to speak publicly about the divorce or the events leading up to it, so there will be no tell-all interviews or book deals.
Elin's silence was obviously a big part of the deal, leading a lot of people to speculate that there are a lot of sordid details that never made it into the press. The deal was also affected by the fact that Elin hired decent lawyers who ferreted out a lot of Tiger Wood's hidden assets, so it turned out he was actually worth more than she thought.
-Selah-
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Kagan Hearings
The confirmation hearings of Elena Kagan are proceeding, and there's very little doubt in my mind that what we essentially have here is a rubber stamp for President Obama.
What Obama did here was to take a lesson from his own past and pick someone who, as much as possible, is simply a factual enigma. Someone about whom it takes real digging to unearth how far Left and out of the mainstream they actually are.
I especially liked the part where Senator Jeff Sessions asked her if she agreed with the assessment of Ron Klain, an adviser to Al Gore in the Clinton administration, that she was a "legal progressive," and of Greg Craig, the former White House counsel in the Obama administration, that she was a "progressive in the mold of Obama himself" and she responded 'Uh, I'm not sure what that is'.
I guess she's been taking private lessons on dissembling from her old boss Mr. Bill.
Even funnier, she contradicted herself out of her own mouth when she stated a minute or so later "My politics would be, must be, have to be completely separate from my judging."
Having never been a judge, not even having any practical legal experience, how exactly is she determining that 'distance'? And if she claims not to know what a legal' progressive' is, why else would she almost immediately say that? And as for her politics being separate...does anyone actually think she would have gotten the nomination from Obama if they actually were?
She's still defending her illegal discrimination against military recruiters at Harvard over 'don't ask don't tell' claiming that she was trying to 'find a balance' between access for the military recruiters and Harvard's stance on non-discrimination.
Which gives rise to some followups...
'Don't ask don't tell' was the brainchild of Mr. Bill's administration, and based on a law passed by Congress that her old boss signed. Why was the military the only federal agency discriminated against by Harvard?
Why the misstatement of fact on her part that military recruiters did not have access as Kagan said, when in fact they actually didn't because no campus group sponsored them or gave them office space? And if it was 'balanced', why did Harvard's then President Larry Summers ultimately quash her when the university was threatened with penalties under the Solomon Amendment?
If Elena Kagan was so exercised about gay rights while she was a Harvard dean, why didn't she scream bloody murder about Harvard accepting a mere $20 million from Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a member of the Saudi Royal family to establish a center for 'Islamic Studies' and shariah law - which mandates the death penalty for gays?
Her commitment to the First Amendment also came under fire as the GOP members of the Judiciary Committee,notably Orin Hatch took apart her advocacy of quashing freedom of speech in her advocacy of the Obama Administration's side of the Citizens United ruling.
Elena Kagan may very well end up getting confirmed, but no one should be under any illusion of whom she is and what we're getting.
Just as the Wise Latina was a deliberate attempt to replace David Souter who was relatively center left with a far left ideologue, Kagan's nomination is an attempt to replace a very activist, left leaning justice with one whom is even more so.
Dems Decide To Ignore WV Law To Fill Byrd's Seat With Party Hack
Well, the fix is in.
Per Democrat Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, instead of having the special election the law clearly mandates now, they'll have it in 2012...for the five or six weeks left in Byrd's term (Nov. 2012 to Jan. 2013) after the next primary! And then they'll have a general election for the new term starting in January 2013.
Meanwhile Governor Joe Manchin will just appoint some chair-warmer to hold the seat until 2012 and vote for Obama's agenda until Manchin runs for the seat himself.
Nicely scammed, unless someone sues.
Per Democrat Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, instead of having the special election the law clearly mandates now, they'll have it in 2012...for the five or six weeks left in Byrd's term (Nov. 2012 to Jan. 2013) after the next primary! And then they'll have a general election for the new term starting in January 2013.
Meanwhile Governor Joe Manchin will just appoint some chair-warmer to hold the seat until 2012 and vote for Obama's agenda until Manchin runs for the seat himself.
Nicely scammed, unless someone sues.
Monday, June 28, 2010
US Arrests 10 Russian Spies
The FBI arrested and charged 10 people yesterday with acting as spies for Russia.
Eight out of a cell of 10 were arrested Sunday for allegedly carrying out long-term, deep cover assignments in the US . Two are apparently still at large.
The arrests came as the result of a long FBI investigation into the network of U.S.-based spies, and federal agents actually intercepted messages from Russian intelligence headquarters in Moscow to two of the accused, Richard and Cynthia Murphy.
None of the group was charged with espionage. Instead, each of the 10 was charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government, carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Nine of the defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum 20 years in prison.
Several factors here. Obviously, if we intercepted messages, we broke the Russian's code and we have a good idea not only where they came from but from whom. It will be interesting to see if any Russian 'diplomats' suddenly get transferred out of the US over this.
Second, according to some of the intercepted messages, the perps had a deep cover assignment "to fulfill your main mission, i.e. to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US and send intels."
Obviously if this was a long term investigation as the FBI says, its probable that at least some progress was made in that particular mission. So...whom were the spies in contact with, who was introducing them around and who was aiding and abetting?
Wouldn't you like to know who it is in 'policy making circles' that's being protected?
-Selah-
LATMA's Latest Video: "The Muslim War Council"
Featuring Syria's Basher Assad, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan and as a special treat, Hezbollah's Sheikh Nasrullah!
Do yourself a favor and don't watch this with a mouthful of liquid.
French Company TOTAL Stops Gas Shipments To Iran
In an obvious response to the unilateral sanctions passed by the US Congress, French energy company TOTAL says it has stopped all gasoline sales to Iran.
Those sanctions, which are much tougher than the ones imposed by the UN have yet to be signed by President Obama, by the way.
I suppose he's been busy - or seeking ways to water them down.
Those sanctions, which are much tougher than the ones imposed by the UN have yet to be signed by President Obama, by the way.
I suppose he's been busy - or seeking ways to water them down.
Illinois Senate Candidate Giannoulias Suppoened In Blago Trial
As if Alex Giannoulias didn't have enough problems already, he's joined President Obama and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on the suppoena list for ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial.
It's going to be an interesting bit of testimony.
The White House apparently wanted to put Obama crony and White house adviser Valerie Jarrett in Barack Obama's senate seat, the one Blagojevich is alleged to have attempted to sell (and probably did eventually sell to Roland Burris).
Governor Blagojevich allegedly used an SEIU connection of his to go to Giannoulias, an old Obama crony and fund raiser for an introduction/inquiry to Valerie Jarrett about the seat...which could mean that Jarrett went to the White House and asked them to 'bid' for her if this is the way things went down.
Apparently Giannoulias was actually at the meeting between Jarrett and Blagojevich's SEIU envoy. But of course, he claims to remember nothing about it!
Giannoulias has a history of being at meetings like this and then claiming he doesn't remember anything and wasn't involved in any subsequent proceedings. Blagojevich's lawyers can be expected to grill him pretty thoroughly...which is not good news for Giannoulias' already faltering Senate campaign.
This bit of Chicagoland theater is going to get even more entertaining as it goes on.
It's going to be an interesting bit of testimony.
The White House apparently wanted to put Obama crony and White house adviser Valerie Jarrett in Barack Obama's senate seat, the one Blagojevich is alleged to have attempted to sell (and probably did eventually sell to Roland Burris).
Governor Blagojevich allegedly used an SEIU connection of his to go to Giannoulias, an old Obama crony and fund raiser for an introduction/inquiry to Valerie Jarrett about the seat...which could mean that Jarrett went to the White House and asked them to 'bid' for her if this is the way things went down.
Apparently Giannoulias was actually at the meeting between Jarrett and Blagojevich's SEIU envoy. But of course, he claims to remember nothing about it!
Giannoulias has a history of being at meetings like this and then claiming he doesn't remember anything and wasn't involved in any subsequent proceedings. Blagojevich's lawyers can be expected to grill him pretty thoroughly...which is not good news for Giannoulias' already faltering Senate campaign.
This bit of Chicagoland theater is going to get even more entertaining as it goes on.
Senator Byrd Dies - And Leaves One Final Controversy
Senator Robert C. Byrd, the longest serving member of the Senate died early this morning. He was 92, and had held his seat since 1959.I extend my condolences to his family.
There's apparently some confusion on filling the seat. According to West Virginia law, if a Senate vacancy occurs more than 2 1/2 years before the term ends, a special election is supposed to be held to fill the seat. There were exactly two years, six months and five days left in Byrd's term when he died.
This could open a legal challenge,prevent current Governor Joe Manchin III, a Democrat from just appointing a successor and force a special election this November, similar to the ones in Delaware and New York to fill the seats vacated by Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Clinton.
Byrd's death also leaves the future of President Obama's so-called financial reform bill up in the air, because it's unclear now whether the Democrats have enough votes to overcome a GOP filibuster to pass it without being able to wheel the late Senator Byrd into the Senate chambers. Four Republicans - Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Susan Collins of Maine and Charles Grassley of Iowa - initially voted for the Senate version of the bill in May, but two Democrats - Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington and Russell Feingold of Wisconsin - voted against both cloture to end debate and the bill itself.
Meanwhile, Brown was quoted as having changed his mind after seeing the House version, which slaps $19 billion in bank fees on financial institutions and raises not only consumer costs but taxes.
There's also a time factor involved, because of the July 4th recess that's just around the corner.
An interesting end to a long and interesting career!
Supreme Court Extends Gun Rights Nationwide
In a landmark case, the Supreme Court has ruled that gun bans like the one in the city of Chicago violate the 2nd Amendment and are unconstitutional.The 5-4 decision voids the 1982 ordinance, one of the nation's strictest, which barred city residents from owning handguns for their own use, even in their own homes.
This is a followup to a ruling two year ago, when the Court ruled in a case from Washington, D.C. that the 2nd Amendment protects the rights of individuals to have a gun for self-defense. Since Washington DC is not a state, the court chose not address at that time whether to extend the ruling to apply to other municipal ordinances or state laws.
In today's decision, the court ruled that the 2nd Amendment's constitutional protection extends to city and state laws.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Dick Cheney 'Markedly Improved'
Things looked a little dicey for a bit after the former Vice President was removed to a hospital for heart trouble, but he's recovering famously and his daughter Liz says he may leave the hospital in a day or so.
Reports are that he's getting up to speed by catching bullets in his bare hands, leaping tall buildings with a single bound and outracing locomotives...
I may have made that last part up. But not by much!
Here's to the the Dark Lord - may he recover quickly and return to his full power to scare the you-know-what out of the Left.
G-d, I've missed having him in Washington for the last two years..
Israeli Ambassador To The US: Israel-US Relations In 'Tectonic Rift'
Al-Guardian is reporting that Michael Oren, Israeli ambassador to the US briefed Israeli diplomats in Jerusalem on the sharp deterioration in the relationship between the two countries as Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu makes preparations for a White House visit early next month.
According to what Oren reportedly said, the situation has moved past a crisis that eventually passes. "There is no crisis in Israel-US relations because in a crisis there are ups and downs," he told the diplomats in Jerusalem. "Relations are in the state of a tectonic rift in which continents are drifting apart."
So how accurate do I think this is? Hard to say, especially when you try to follow Michael Oren. Just three weeks ago, Oren told Fox News that Israel's relationship with the US was 'very close and very cooperative and very open, today he's talking about a tectonic rift?
Here's what I think the reality is.
Unlike other US presidents, Barack Obama has made no secret about the fact from day one after he was elected he basically considered Israel a distasteful colonial outpost and favored appeasing the Muslim world by deconstructing the alliance between the two countries. I'm sure that's still his objective, but due to Israel's support in Congress and the fact that appeasing the Muslim world didn't go quite as planned, he's realized that Israel is still a strategic asset in that part of the world. And closer to home, he's also realized that his political support and that of this party among American Jews is not what it was, and with midterms coming on he feels the necessity of at least doing a little fence mending - for now.
That explains why the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen just completed a trip to Israel to confer with them on security matters, and why the anti-Israel rhetoric out of the White House has ramped down a bit, even if very little else has really changed.
Added to the mix is President Obama's ill-concerned dislike of Benyamin Netanyahu and Israel's center/right government - which is why Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barack from Israel's Left wing Labour Party is President Obama's preferred interlocutor between the White House and the Israeli government, even though his party has only twelve seats in the Knesset and no one elected Ehud Barack to anything.
When Netanyahu comes to DC, there may be smiles and a few photo-ops, unlike last time. But Barack Obama undoubtedly plans to ignore any attempts to realistically discuss Iran and will concentrate on trying to wring further Israeli concessions on Gaza and on building in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem out of Netanyahu.
How that's going to go is anyone's guess.
UPDATE: Oren has denied making the above statement claiming he said 'shift' instead of rift and that his description of the US/Israel relationship was much more benign than was reported by whatever anonymous sources leaked his briefing.
The mind boggles.
According to what Oren reportedly said, the situation has moved past a crisis that eventually passes. "There is no crisis in Israel-US relations because in a crisis there are ups and downs," he told the diplomats in Jerusalem. "Relations are in the state of a tectonic rift in which continents are drifting apart."
So how accurate do I think this is? Hard to say, especially when you try to follow Michael Oren. Just three weeks ago, Oren told Fox News that Israel's relationship with the US was 'very close and very cooperative and very open, today he's talking about a tectonic rift?
Here's what I think the reality is.
Unlike other US presidents, Barack Obama has made no secret about the fact from day one after he was elected he basically considered Israel a distasteful colonial outpost and favored appeasing the Muslim world by deconstructing the alliance between the two countries. I'm sure that's still his objective, but due to Israel's support in Congress and the fact that appeasing the Muslim world didn't go quite as planned, he's realized that Israel is still a strategic asset in that part of the world. And closer to home, he's also realized that his political support and that of this party among American Jews is not what it was, and with midterms coming on he feels the necessity of at least doing a little fence mending - for now.
That explains why the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen just completed a trip to Israel to confer with them on security matters, and why the anti-Israel rhetoric out of the White House has ramped down a bit, even if very little else has really changed.
Added to the mix is President Obama's ill-concerned dislike of Benyamin Netanyahu and Israel's center/right government - which is why Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barack from Israel's Left wing Labour Party is President Obama's preferred interlocutor between the White House and the Israeli government, even though his party has only twelve seats in the Knesset and no one elected Ehud Barack to anything.
When Netanyahu comes to DC, there may be smiles and a few photo-ops, unlike last time. But Barack Obama undoubtedly plans to ignore any attempts to realistically discuss Iran and will concentrate on trying to wring further Israeli concessions on Gaza and on building in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem out of Netanyahu.
How that's going to go is anyone's guess.
UPDATE: Oren has denied making the above statement claiming he said 'shift' instead of rift and that his description of the US/Israel relationship was much more benign than was reported by whatever anonymous sources leaked his briefing.
The mind boggles.
Civil Rights Groups Question Obama Nominee Kagan's Record
It's seems you can't please everybody, no matter what. President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is under fire from a number of civil rights groups because of what some of them see as an insufficiently supportive record on diversity, racial profiling and affirmative action.
The National Bar Association, the main association of black lawyers, refrained from endorsing Kagan, giving her only a lukewarm 'qualified' rating. The group's president, Mavis T. Thompson,was quoted as saying that the group "had some qualms" about Kagan's positions on crack-cocaine sentencing, as well as on what it termed her inadequate emphasis while the dean of Harvard Law School on diversity.
A number of black and Latino groups have focused on the fact that while Kagan was dean, not a single black or Latino faculty member was hired into a tenure-track position, academia's lifetime employment goldmine. These decisions are made by committee, and there's no evidence that Kagan voted against any prospective black or Latino candidates, or even that there were any qualified black or Latino qualified applicants available. But the fact that none were appointed during her tenure as dean is being laid at Kagan's feet.
Other questions have surfaced based on the limited records made available from Kagan's sojourn in the Clinton White House, and several black academics who worked with her in the Clinton White House have gone public on matters like her stance against incorporating a ban on racial profiling into president Clinton's 1999 race initiative, and her attitudes, described by one of them as 'skeptical' and 'argumentative' towards the Civil Rights Commission.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)is also questioning Kagan's record on Latinos, and wants questions raised about a note by Kagan in which she described discussions on how to deal with Central Americans displaced in 1998 by Hurricane Mitch as "lots of legal gobbledygook".
MALDEF President Thomas Saenz said that as far as he's concerned "there are certain absences in the record" on Kagan. "And, therefore, there are questions to be asked."
What to make of all this?
There are plenty of good and sufficient reasons to oppose Elena Kagan becoming a Supreme Court Justice, but I doubt that racial insensitivity is one of them. She was, after all, hired to work at the White House by two Democratic presidents who counted minority support as an important part of their political coalition. And she was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Obama.
If I had to guess, there are two motivations behind these groups' questioning of Kagan's bonifides. First, I think that there's some disappointment that President Obama didn't nominate another black or Hispanic to the court, and this is a way of expressing it without actually saying so. Second, these groups want to use the hearings as an excuse to get Kagan down on the record as supporting their agenda, regardless of any Constitutional or ethical considerations involved.
Live by identity politics, die by identity politics.
The National Bar Association, the main association of black lawyers, refrained from endorsing Kagan, giving her only a lukewarm 'qualified' rating. The group's president, Mavis T. Thompson,was quoted as saying that the group "had some qualms" about Kagan's positions on crack-cocaine sentencing, as well as on what it termed her inadequate emphasis while the dean of Harvard Law School on diversity.
A number of black and Latino groups have focused on the fact that while Kagan was dean, not a single black or Latino faculty member was hired into a tenure-track position, academia's lifetime employment goldmine. These decisions are made by committee, and there's no evidence that Kagan voted against any prospective black or Latino candidates, or even that there were any qualified black or Latino qualified applicants available. But the fact that none were appointed during her tenure as dean is being laid at Kagan's feet.
Other questions have surfaced based on the limited records made available from Kagan's sojourn in the Clinton White House, and several black academics who worked with her in the Clinton White House have gone public on matters like her stance against incorporating a ban on racial profiling into president Clinton's 1999 race initiative, and her attitudes, described by one of them as 'skeptical' and 'argumentative' towards the Civil Rights Commission.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)is also questioning Kagan's record on Latinos, and wants questions raised about a note by Kagan in which she described discussions on how to deal with Central Americans displaced in 1998 by Hurricane Mitch as "lots of legal gobbledygook".
MALDEF President Thomas Saenz said that as far as he's concerned "there are certain absences in the record" on Kagan. "And, therefore, there are questions to be asked."
What to make of all this?
There are plenty of good and sufficient reasons to oppose Elena Kagan becoming a Supreme Court Justice, but I doubt that racial insensitivity is one of them. She was, after all, hired to work at the White House by two Democratic presidents who counted minority support as an important part of their political coalition. And she was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Obama.
If I had to guess, there are two motivations behind these groups' questioning of Kagan's bonifides. First, I think that there's some disappointment that President Obama didn't nominate another black or Hispanic to the court, and this is a way of expressing it without actually saying so. Second, these groups want to use the hearings as an excuse to get Kagan down on the record as supporting their agenda, regardless of any Constitutional or ethical considerations involved.
Live by identity politics, die by identity politics.
Video: Christians Arrested For Distributing Gospels Outside Dearborn Arab Festival
Let's see...on a public street, in the United States of America...and arrested by the Dearborn, Michigan Police for disorderly conduct - because they were handing out copies of the Gospel of John in Arabic and English.
The arrest was filmed, at least until the Dearborn Police confiscated the cameras.
The four Christians who were arrested are free on bond and are now being represented by the Thomas More Law Center. Their press release is here.
According to the Evangelist's attorney Robert Muise, his client's First Amendment rights were egregiously violated, and his letter to Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad requesting the return of his client's confiscated cameras and tapes has not yet been answered.
According to sharia law, proselytizing to Muslims or criticizing Islam in any way is haram, forbidden. And Muslims leaving Islam are subject to a death sentence.
What we're seeing here is an American police Department making the decision to enforce sharia over our Constitution. And they're even willing to pay damages in a lawsuit they can't possibly win to do it.
(hat tip, Hot Air)
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Proof Homer Simpson Exists In Real Life...
D'oh!
A drunk driver trapped after overturning his car cracked open another can of beer while he waited for emergency crews to rescue him, a New Zealand court was told.
Paul Nigel Sneddon, 47, pleaded guilty to careless driving and drunken driving after being nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit in a district court in the city of Palmerston North, the Dominion Post newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Police found Sneddon, a former baker, trapped in his overturned Ford Laser on June 1, drinking a can of beer after he failed to take a corner properly and crashed through a wooden barrier, flipping his vehicle.
Defense lawyer Peter Young said that when Sneddon found he could not open the doors, "he had nothing else to do at that point, so he had another beer."
(Love the Lionell Hutt-style defense!)
When asked by police how much he had consumed, Sneddon replied: "Plenty, I've been drinking for four days straight."
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