DO IT: Sarah Palin May Sue New York Times for Tying Her to Gabby Giffords Shooting
Posted: June 15, 2017 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: Bernie Sanders, D.C., Democratic Party (United States), Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Libel, Republican Party (United States), Slander, The New York Times, United States, Washington Leave a comment
Sarah Palin indicated on Thursday that she might sue the New York Times over editorial that suggested she was in some way responsible for the 2011 shooting of then-Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords.
“Commonsense suggestion by a journalist, am talking to attorneys this [morning] and exploring options,” she said. “[By the way], wonder WHY someone would no longer be in public eye? Think constant libel & slander have anything to do with it?”
(1/2) @nytopinion – commonsense suggestion by a journalist, am talking to attorneys this AM and exploring options. BTW, wonder.. pic.twitter.com/jACvxwUBZH
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) June 15, 2017
(2/2) …WHY someone would no longer be in public eye? Think constant libel & slander have anything to do with it? 🤔
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) June 15, 2017
Attached to one of her tweets was an article that questioned whether Palin has “a libel case” against the Times.
The paper on Thursday corrected an editorial that claimed there was a “clear” link between the shooting of Giffords and Palin.
[Vintage MZHemingway – read more here, at thefederalist.com]
The original version of the Times editorial, which focused on the shooting Wednesday at a recreational congressional Republican baseball practice outside of Washington, D.C., said “the link to political incitement was clear” in the Giffords shooting … (read more)
Source: washingtonexaminer.com
Shame on the New York Times. Shame.
Its editorial about yesterday’s shooting doesn’t just twist the truth; it may be libelous.
David French writes: The New York Times published its editorial in response to yesterday’s vicious, violent, and explicitly political attack on Congressional Republicans — an attack that wounded four and left Representative Steve Scalise in critical condition in a Washington-area hospital — and it is abhorrent. It is extraordinarily cruel, vicious, and — above all — dishonest. The editorial doesn’t just twist the truth to advance the board’s preferred narratives; it may even be libelous, a term I choose carefully.
Yesterday’s shooter, James Hodgkinson, left little doubt as to his political leanings and his political motivations. He was a vocal Bernie Sanders supporter, belonged to Facebook groups with names such as “Terminate the Republican Party” and “The Road to Hell is paved with Republicans,” and he was constantly sharing angry anti-GOP messages and memes. Before opening fire, he reportedly asked whether the players on the baseball field were Democrats or Republicans. In other words, all available signs point to an act of lone-wolf progressive political terror. Read the rest of this entry »
Trump Continues to Collect Trademarks in China
Posted: June 14, 2017 Filed under: China, Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Global, Mediasphere, White House | Tags: Associated Press, Attorney General of Maryland, Beijing, Branding, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C., Donald Trump, Ineligibility Clause, Karl Racine, United States Constitution, Washington Leave a comment
President Donald Trump is growing his brand in China.
David Francis reports: According to a report from the Associated Press, the Chinese government has approved nine Trump trademarks it had earlier rejected, in whole or in part. The latest development is likely to add to the growing controversy over Trump’s potential conflicts of interest, and especially charges that he could be in violation of the emolument clause of the U.S. Constitution, which is supposed to prevent a sitting president from gaining a financial benefit from foreign nations.
There are now three lawsuits alleging the president is violating the Constitution by refusing to put his assets into a blind trust; Trump has put his son in charge of managing his many business dealings. Trump’s new Washington hotel is a particular sore spot, since many visiting delegations stay there. One was filed by nearly 200 Congressional Democrats Wednesday; a joint one was filed by the attorney generals of Washington, D.C. and Maryland; and a similar suit was filed by the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
[Read the full story here, at Foreign Policy]
Benefitting from foreign governments, whether through hotel bills or the granting of trademarks, lie at the center of all these cases. In the case of the China trademarks, records don’t show why these requests were initially rejected or why they were reconsidered. Read the rest of this entry »
Former Official: Obama Admin ‘Systematically Disbanded’ Units Investigating Iran’s Terrorism Financing Networks
Posted: June 9, 2017 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Foreign Policy, Global, History, Politics, Self Defense, Terrorism, White House | Tags: Canada, DC, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Memorial Day, Obama, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, United States Department of State, United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington 1 Comment
Susan Crabtree reports: The Obama administration “systematically disbanded” law enforcement investigative units across the federal government focused on disrupting Iranian, Syrian, and Venezuelan terrorism financing networks out of concern the work could cause friction with Iranian officials and scuttle the nuclear deal with Iran, according to a former U.S. official who spent decades dismantling terrorist financial networks.
David Asher, who previously served as an adviser to Gen. John Allen at the Defense and State Departments, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee Thursday that top officials across several key law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the Obama administration “systematically disbanded” law enforcement activities targeting the terrorism financing operations of Iran, Hezbollah, and Venezuela in the lead-up to and during the nuclear negotiations with Tehran.
“Senior leadership, presiding, directing, and overseeing various sections [of these agencies] and portions of the U.S. intelligence community systematically disbanded any internal or external stakeholder action that threatened to derail the administration’s policy agenda focused on Iran,” he testified.
Asher now serves on the board of directors of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies‘ Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance and is an adjunct fellow at the Center for New American Security, two national security think tanks.
He attributed the motivation for decisions to dismantle the investigative units to “concerns about interfering with the Iran deal,” a reference to the nuclear deal forged between the U.S., five other world powers, and Iran during the final years of the Obama administration.
As a result, “several top cops” retired and the U.S. government lost their years of expertise. Read the rest of this entry »
Communist Victims Receive Heartfelt Salute from Spunky Young American Leftists
Posted: April 12, 2017 Filed under: Education, Foreign Policy, Mediasphere, Politics, Terrorism, U.S. News | Tags: #BlackLiberationMovemen, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Barack Obama, Black Bolshevik, Commencement speech, Donald Trump, Jewish Defense League, Marxism, Meir Kahane, Mike Pence, Palestine, Palestinian flag, Vice President of the United States, Washington Leave a comment
The obscene action appears to be part of a protest against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s conference, a pro-Israel annual gathering last month where Vice President Mike Pence was a keynote speaker. Outside of the conference, an estimated 1,000 people gathered in Washington DC to protest it and push the idea that Israel should give up more land in an effort to appease hostile neighbors.
The same account belonging to an individual who describes himself as a Black Bolshevik and aligned with the #BlackLiberationMovement and #FreePalestine tweeted out anti-Israel, anti-police, and pro-Palestinian photos of demonstrators just minutes before issuing the photo of a group of people flipping off the memorial. Read the rest of this entry »
Reporters Assaulted, Protesters Clash, Police Make Arrests In Chaotic Alt Right Saturday Night in Washington D.C.
Posted: April 11, 2017 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Mediasphere, U.S. News | Tags: Alt-right, Anarchists, Antifa, D.C., Donald Trump, Marxists, protests, Radical Left, Radical Right, The Daily Caller, Washington Leave a comment
Anti Fascist demonstrators clash with alt right protesters in Washington DC.
Networks Censor Alleged Rape by Illegal Immigrant; Gave 11 Minutes in Two Days to Fake UVA Rape
Posted: March 23, 2017 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: ABC World News Tonight, CBS, Donald Trump, Fox News Channel, NBC, Rockville High School, Rolling Stone, UVA Rape Hoax, Washington 1 Comment
Curtis Houck reports: The “big three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC continued their shameful blackout into Wednesday night of the horrifying alleged rape of a teenage girl in a Washington D.C. suburb high school bathroom by two men, including one here in the U.S. illegally.
Instead, the pathetic liberal media that’s shown no interest in the Rockville High School case complied with Rolling Stone in giving over 10 minutes of coverage in two days to the fake 2014 claim that a University of Virginia fraternity gang raped a female student.
Before breaking down how blind the media were in furthering a narrative about college fraternities and sexual assault (which can be a noble cause), the pro-illegal immigrant media were surely displeased with the Fox News Channel’s Special Report as it again offered a story on the events in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Fill-in host James Rosen noted that “the Maryland State House of Delegates has approved a bill to make Maryland a sanctuary state…just days after Maryland authorities charged two immigrants, one of them confirmed to be here illegally, in the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl in a Rockville High School bathroom.”
Correspondent Doug McKelway provided the latest from the school and told viewers how the cowards with the school district banned TV cameras from Tuesday’s packed PTA meeting as “[t]he red-hot controversy…lit up social media.”
[read the full story here, at newsbusters.org]
McKelway also noted how the school district has shifted their focus from the rape to blaming average citizens for being outraged about how such a thing could have happened.
At the same time, local and state Democrats went ahead with their desire to make Rockville and Maryland a sanctuary city and state, respectively. This was despite strong opposition from Republican Governor Larry Hogan.
This lack of seriousness by the liberal media was no issue back in fall 2014 when Rolling Stone detailed a graphic gang rape of a young woman at a University of Virginia fraternity. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Krauthammer: Slow-Walk the Executive Order Appeal, Fast-Walk Gorsuch Nomination
Posted: February 10, 2017 Filed under: Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Think Tank | Tags: Antonin Scalia, Barack Obama, Democratic Party (United States), Donald Trump, Neil Gorsuch, President of the United States, Republican Party (United States), Supreme Court of the United States, Thomas Hardiman, United States courts of appeals, Washington 1 Comment
Gorsuch Nomination More Important Than Travel Ban & Judges’ Opposition
“The point I wanted to make in the column was, there is the moratorium, and there is the vetting. The vetting will get 90 percent support in the country, but they actually should do it. It doesn’t depend on a moratorium. The fact is, they have lost the case in the most liberal circuit in the country, they’ve lost it at the district level, and for now, the Supreme Court is deadlocked, so it’s likely to return. In other words the case is stacked against them. I happen to think it’s legal, but these courts have decided not, so why play a losing hand? What he needs to do — I think it’s exactly right — either rewrite the order or have a new one, so you are dealing on a different playing field. You’ve gotten essentially the feedback of the ninth circuit, so you know what will pass muster and what won’t. For example, from the beginning, you exclude the holders of green cards, and then what you do is, you slow-walk the appeals case and you fast-walk the nomination of Gorsuch. There is no hurry on appealing this ruling. They are not going to win it in the end. … “
Source: National Review
[VIDEO] Professor at NYU Protest Screams at Police, Demands They Attack Campus Speaker
Posted: February 3, 2017 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Education, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere | Tags: Alt-right, Anti-fascism, Business Insider, Communism, D.C., Donald Trump, Feminis, Gavin McInnes, Left Wing Radicals, Marxism, New York City, Pepper spray, Progressivism, Socialism, Twitter, Violence, Washington Leave a comment
“Who’s protecting NYU from this bullshit? Why are you here? You’re not here to protect these students from Nazis? No, you’re not! I’m a professor!”
Alex Griswold reports:
…Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes‘ lecture at NYU was cancelled halfway through amid protests and violence. McInnes has a history of controversial and intentionally provocative statements, saying in the past that transphobia should be encouraged and that feminism makes women unhappy.
Several disruptive students were arrested by police after McInnes was reportedly pepper-sprayed by a critic. But in video taken at the scene that went viral, the professor denounced police for arresting the students and demanded they attack McInnes.
Watch above, via YouTube (starting at around 10:07)
“Who’s protecting NYU from this bullshit?” she shouted. “Why are you here? You’re not here to protect these students from Nazis? No, you’re not!”
“How dare you assholes protect Neo-Nazis? Fuck you! Fuck you!” she shouted. “They’re trying to learn about human rights and against racism and xenophobia and LGBTQ rights and you’re letting these fucking Neo-Nazis near here!” Read the rest of this entry »
Four Arrested at Gavin McInnes Event as Antifa Protesters Become Violent
Posted: February 2, 2017 Filed under: Censorship, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: A.N.S.W.E.R., Alt-right, Anti-Free Speech, D.C., Donald Trump, Fox News Channel, Free speech, Gavin McInnes, Libertarian, Neo-Nazism, Protest, Twitter, United States, Washington Leave a comment
Four people were arrested at an NYU event where Gavin McInnes delivered a speech, after protesters became violent.
Following a fight, which started after protesters started to assault McInnes as he entered the venue and ended in a stolen Make America Great Again hat being set on fire, protesters followed McInnes into the venue and attempted to disrupt his show with chants.
“The protesters were seemingly unaware that McInnes is a libertarian, and has never been associated with neo-Nazism.”
One attendee was also attacked by anti-fascists with water as he gave an interview on camera.
“The NYU Anti-Fascists organized the event on Facebook titled ‘Disrupt Gavin McInnes at NYU’,” reported Pix 11, however unlike the riot that anti-fascists started during Breitbart Senior Editor MILO’s show at UC Berkeley on Wednesday, New York police intervened and managed to prevent a large-scale incident from taking place.
[Read the full story here, at Breitbart]
Protesters made chants of “get out of here you Nazi scum,” at McInnes, and “hurled expletives at police,” and others who attempted to either enter the venue or keep students and attendees safe.
“There was a lot of shoving and scuffling and punches were thrown. Police had to move in, and they made several arrests.”
— Pix 11 reporter Marvin Scott
“There’s a neo-Nazi speaking, so we’re here to protest,” said one protester who was holding a sign written in Arabic.
Natasha Roy, Jemima McEvoy, Sayer Devlin, and Diamond Naga Siu report: VICE co-founder Gavin McInnes spoke for only three minutes without interruption until the jeers started. He exited the Rosenthal Pavilion in the Kimmel Center for University Life 20 minutes after he took to the podium and was escorted from a mixed room of fans and sneering students — once he was in the back, McInnes decided to leave the premises immediately.
McInnes will not be returning @nyunews
— Sayer Devlin (@metties) February 3, 2017
Gavin McInnes pepper-sprayed at NYU speaking engagement https://t.co/S9EbGfABOZ
— Mike (@mike4libertyCA) February 3, 2017
NYPD and NYU Public Safety Officers secured both the interior and exterior of the building, and even before he had entered, McInnes was attacked with pepper spray. He was treated immediately by EMT while security and university officials waited outside the Kimmel bathroom door.
And once he started speaking, students verbally harassed him — they began the ridicule once McInnes made the first joke that did not bode well with the audience.
“When I got pepper sprayed, your eyes hurt obviously,” McInnes said as he imitated a squirt gun sound — the object the protestor used to attack him. “And then you get this sense of panic like ‘How do I know this isn’t acid?’ Oh yeah, this isn’t Islam.” … (read more)
Source: nyunews.com
“We have freedom of speech in this country, however if you’re going to promote something that is hateful and hurtful to our democracy, we have a right to come out and explain why our democracy exists,” said another.
The protesters were seemingly unaware that McInnes is a libertarian, and has never been associated with neo-Nazism. Read the rest of this entry »
Judicial Watch Statement Regarding Judge Neil Gorsuch Nomination for the SCOTUS
Posted: February 2, 2017 Filed under: Law & Justice, Think Tank | Tags: Abortion, Abortion in the United States, Antonin Scalia, Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, Barack Obama, Brexit, DC, Donald Trump, President of the United States, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington Leave a comment
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton issued the following statement in response to today’s announcement of the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States:
President Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court is a victory for Americans who are fed up with corrupt judicial activism. The judicial branch needs as much draining as the rest of the federal government swamp. President Trump avoided the temptation to nominate yet another politician to the Supreme Court. It is good we have a nominee who has a demonstrated record of applying the rule of law rather than legislating from the bench. The U.S. Senate should swiftly confirm him.
In Michele Gorman’s January 27 profile piece on Neil Gorsuch for Newsweekmagazine, Fitton provided the following:
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, tells Newsweek that Gorsuch fits the Scalia mold, which Trump has promised to adhere to in his replacement nominee. “I think conservatives would consider him to be an exciting pick. I think it’s fair to say he’s a leader in terms of conservative jurisprudence and I think he quickly would become a strong voice on the court for his constitutional approach to decision making,” he says. Read the rest of this entry »
Can Trump Win His Battle With The Unionized, Bureaucratic ‘Deep State’?
Posted: January 25, 2017 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Barack Obama, BBC, Democratic Party (United States), Donald Trump, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, Make America Great Again, Nielsen ratings, President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, United States, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington Leave a comment
On his first full day in office, Trump sent a powerful signal of intent by freezing pay raises and hiring of federal workers.
Public Unions: As the old expression goes, a new broom sweeps clean. And there’s no question that the new broom in Washington, D.C., is Donald Trump. Will he be able to sweep aside the massive Washington bureaucracy, the graveyard of good ideas and democratic governance?
Trump got off to a very promising start, as we noted on Monday. On his first full day in office, he sent a powerful signal of intent by freezing pay raises and hiring of federal workers. Trump administration officials have let it be known that he’d like to slice 10% off spending and 20% off the federal bureaucracy, part of a broad effort to slash just over $10 trillion from federal spending over the next decade.
Not surprisingly, this has frightened bureaucrats. An Associated Press headline captured it best: “Workers Dismayed By President Trump’s Federal Hiring Freeze.”
According to a Government Business CouncilGovExec.com poll, 28% of government employees said they will definitely or “maybe” consider quitting or retiring after Donald Trump was sworn into office. Another 7% said they don’t know. They know the ax is coming down.
Things are already moving along. Late last week, in the Senate, Sen. Marco Rubio reintroduced a spate of bills, including one that would enable Veterans Affairs employees to be fired for poor performance or misconduct. Meanwhile, the White House on Tuesday ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to stop awarding new contracts or grants, as part of a review of its operations. Read the rest of this entry »
Sebastian Gorka to Join Trump White House
Posted: January 24, 2017 Filed under: Global, Mediasphere, Politics, Religion, Terrorism | Tags: Activism, American Broadcasting Company, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Foreign Policy, Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox News Channel, NBC, Sebastian Gorka, The New York Times Best Seller list, Washington Leave a comment
Oliver Darcy reports: Sebastian Gorka, the Breitbart national security editor and a Fox News contributor, is expected to join President Donald Trump’s White House, a source familiar with the matter told Business Insider.
[Read the full story here, at Business Insider]
The source said that the position is likely in the National Security Council. A Fox News spokesperson said the network terminated Gorka’s contributor agreement when he informed executives of his new position.
Gorka, who has written stories for Breitbart since early 2014, was a founding member of the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs and has been awarded the Joint Civilian Service Commendation, according to a bio on his website. (He recently made his website private.) The national-security analyst 
is the author of “Defeating Jihad,” a New York Times best-seller.
[Check out Sebastian Gorka’s book “Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War” at Amazon.com]
He was also the vice president for counterterrorism and irregular warfare at the Threat Knowledge Group, and he said in a July Breitbart story that he had written policy papers for Trump. He was paid by the campaign for policy consulting, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] AEI LIVE STREAM: Understanding ISIS and its Followers #BLSAEI
Posted: January 24, 2017 Filed under: Education, Mediasphere, Religion, Terrorism, Think Tank, War Room | Tags: Allen Murabayashi, D.C., DC, Donald Trump, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, President of the United States, Syria, The Pentagon, United States, Washington 1 Comment
In March 2015, The Atlantic magazine ran a cover story titled “What ISIS Really Wants.” The author was Graeme Wood, journalist, correspondent for The Atlantic, and lecturer at Yale 
University. His reporting and research on ISIS has now become a book, “The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State” (Random House, 2016), which examines the origins, plans, and followers of ISIS.
[Order the book “The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State“ from Amazon.com]
In this Bradley Lecture, Mr. Wood will discuss his firsthand encounters with ISIS’s true believers, which will help clear away common misunderstandings about this distinctive variety of Islam. Please join us for Mr. Wood’s first public lecture on the book in Washington, DC. A reception and book signing will follow. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] REASON TV: What We Saw at Women’s March on Washington
Posted: January 21, 2017 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Activism, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, media, propaganda, Reason (magazine), Reason.tv, video, Washington, Washington D.C., Women's March 1 Comment
On January 21, an estimated 500,000 people attended the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. as a protest against incoming President Donald Trump.
Survey: 100% Of People Marching On Washington Were Not Aborted
Posted: January 21, 2017 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Humor, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: A.N.S.W.E.R., American Civil Liberties Union, Angélique Kidjo, Anti-abortion movements, D.C., Donald Trump, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, President of the United States, satire, Washington 1 Comment
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a survey conducted in the nation’s capital Saturday, a full 100% of the people marching on the nation’s capital for abortion rights as part of the “Women’s March on Washington” were found to have not been aborted by their mothers when they were yet to be born.
The controversial study indicates that there may be…(read more)
Source: The Babylon Bee
How Donald Trump’s Inauguration Speech Compares with Other Presidents
Posted: January 21, 2017 Filed under: History, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: Activism, American exceptionalism, Barack Obama, D.C., Donald Trump, Donald Trump's Inauguration, Electoral College (United States), Inauguration Speech, Twitter, Washington Leave a comment
Inaugural addresses typically cover broad themes that speak to the times, and most invoke strong messages of patriotism and American exceptionalism. (read more)
Party Countdown: Countdown to Jan 20, 2017 in Washington DC, District of Columbia
Posted: January 20, 2017 Filed under: History, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: D.C., Donald Trump, Huffington Post, HuffPo, Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, Party Pooper, United States presidential inauguration, Washington, White House Leave a comment
Countdown to Jan 20, 2017 12:00 noon. Showing days, hours, minutes and seconds ticking down to 0.
The parade is underway pic.twitter.com/nUMDnvvmHq
— Bridget Johnson (@Bridget_PJM) January 20, 2017
Source: Party Countdown
[VIDEO] Inauguration Protests, Police Injured, 95 Arrested as Donald Trump Takes Office
Posted: January 20, 2017 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: Cannabis (drug), Donald Trump, Mike Pence, National Mall, New York City, Presidential Inaugural 2017, Trump Tower (New York City), United States presidential inauguration, Washington Leave a commentCNN reports: A pair of police officers were injured and 95 protesters arrested after they smashed windows, damaged cars and threw rocks at police near Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Friday in Washington, D.C.
“We’re here to take a stand against the ideas that Trump spouted throughout the course of this campaign — sexism, Islamophobia, his bigotry and nationalism.”
— Protester Jed Holtz, from New York City
Two DC police officers and one other person were taken to the hospital for undetermined injuries after run-ins with protesters, DC Fire Spokesman Vito Maggiolo told CNN. The injuries are non-life threatening.
“I think Donald Trump is a fascist, and it’s very easy for people, especially people who are in pain, to slip into fascism.”
— Protester Lysander Reid-Powell, a 20-year-old student from New Mexico
After the swearing-in ceremony, demonstrators near 12th and K streets threw rocks and bottles at police, who were clad in riot gear and attempting to disperse the crowd. A large 
number of police were on scene and used smoke and flash-bang devices to try to scatter the protesters.
Acting DC Police Chief Peter Newsham told CNN that there were several hundred protestors who were confronting police, while he praised the thousands of other demonstrators who behaved in a peaceful fashion to get their point across.
“We have been pointing out all along that this is a very isolated incident and by and large everything is going peacefully and a lot of folks have come to the city to enjoy this historic day, not only the Capitol but walking all around the city,” Newsham said.
In a statement earlier, the DC police said protesters “acting in a concerted effort engaged in acts of vandalism and several instances of destruction of property. More specifically, the 
group damaged vehicles, destroyed the property of multiple businesses, and ignited smaller isolated fires while armed with crowbars, hammers, and asps.”
Police said there had been 95 arrests as of 2 p.m.
“Pepper spray and other control devices were used to control the criminal actors and protect persons and property,” police said.
Earlier, a few blocks from the White House, demonstrators shattered building windows, vandalized police cars and other vehicles, and toppled news stands. One business owner told CNN there were as many as several hundred protesters who swept through the area, some dressed in black.
At one point, police used pepper spray as a group of protesters, many of them wearing masks, ran down 13th Street.
“I think Donald Trump is a fascist, and it’s very easy for people, especially people who are in pain, to slip into fascism,” said protester Lysander Reid-Powell, a 20-year-old student from New Mexico.
At one checkpoint, about 50 protesters sat down in the street in an attempt to block Trump supporters from entering a secure area to watch the swearing-in ceremony and speech. Not far away, a group of immigration backers staged a “pop up” protest near another check point.
“We’re here to take a stand against the ideas that Trump spouted throughout the course of this campaign — sexism, Islamophobia, his bigotry and nationalism,” said protester Jed Holtz, from New York City. Read the rest of this entry »
EMOPALOOZA 2.0: Electoral College
Posted: December 19, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, Politics, White House | Tags: Alaska, Barack Obama, County, D.C., Direct election, Donald Trump, Elaine Chao, Electoral College (United States), George W. Bush, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Republican Party (United States), Washington Leave a comment
The Founding Fathers got it right, and California is proof.
Consider this: Hillary Clinton’s 2.3-million-popular-vote plurality over Trump depends on the votes in a single state.
James E. Campbell writes: Shocked and appalled by the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency, some supporters of Hillary Clinton have turned to minimizing and even delegitimizing Trump’s election. In an era of severe political polarization, in an election with two candidates seen from the outset in highly unfavorable terms, after the most brutal campaign in modern history, and with an outcome that astonished just about everyone, these reactions are understandable, but wrong.
Many diehard Clinton supporters cannot bring themselves to believe their candidate could lose to Donald Trump. They think: How could such a crude and inept con man be elected president? Even after it has happened, it is unthinkable, a nightmare. So, the election must not have been fair.
[MORE: Lobbied, pressured, even threatened: What life has been like for Electoral College voters]
Those on the fringe raise the specter of diabolical Russians hacking away at our democracy. More grounded Clintonians have less malevolent bogeymen — our Founding Fathers. As they see it, the election’s outcome should be blamed on a dysfunctional and archaic electoral-vote system. Hillary won the national popular vote. She should be president. It is as simple as that. The Electoral College should go the way of Trump University.
They are right about one thing: Clinton did win the popular vote, by some 2.8 million votes, as the most recent data show.
Yet Clinton has only 232 electoral votes (in 20 states plus Washington, D.C.) to Trump’s 306 (in 30 states plus one from Maine), making him the president-elect. So Trump’s election without a popular-vote plurality is regarded as an 
injustice. Some Democrats claim a moral victory as victims of an electoral-vote system that once again horribly “misfired.” Their claim, however, neglects two facts.
[Order James E. Campbell’s book “Polarized: Making Sense of a Divided America” from Amazon.com]
First, had the election been conducted with rules awarding the presidency to the popular-vote winner, the candidates and many voters quite probably would have acted very differently, and the popular vote might not have been the same. Trump and Clinton would have campaigned in the “safe” states. Potential voters in those states would have felt more pressure to turn out and to vote for “the lesser of two evils” and not to waste their votes on third-party candidates. Some additional Clinton voters would probably have shown up, but gains on the Trump side would probably have been larger as more reluctant Republicans would have been pushed to return to the fold, particularly in big blue states like California, New York and Illinois. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Senator Ben Sasse on the Heart of America and Its Founders
Posted: December 18, 2016 Filed under: History, Politics, Think Tank | Tags: Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Ben Sasse, D.C., Donald Trump, Mike Pence, President's Club, The Heritage Foundation, United States, United States Department of Defense, video, Washington Leave a comment
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., speaks at The Heritage Foundation‘s 2016 President’s Club Meeting about America, its founders, and today’s youth.
[VIDEO] Kellyanne Conway: ‘The Biggest Fake News was That Trump Couldn’t Win’
Posted: December 10, 2016 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Barack Obama, Capitol Hill, D.C., Democratic Party (United States), Donald Trump, fake news, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, Hot Air, Joe Biden, Kellyanne Conway, media, MSNBC, news, News satire, video, Washington 1 Comment
At Hot Air, Ed Morrissey writes: In the clip above, Conway wonders aloud what message Democrats thought they were selling during the campaign. “I don’t know what her message was to America,” Conway says, “other than ‘I’m not Donald Trump and you shouldn’t vote for him’.” Conway also argues that Hillary didn’t do much to move the needle with women, scoring 54/41 in exit polls, almost identical to Barack Obama’s 55/44 over Mitt Romney in 2012. How did she fail to leverage that advantage, Conway asks?
The near-hysteria generated by advocates of this latest social panic has reached almost ludicrous heights. In the past 48 hours, we have now been lectured about “fake news” by Hillary Clinton, former NBC News anchor Brian Williams, and outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Hillary’s reliance on lies and half-truths in the campaign was well documented, especially when it came to her e-mail scandal and the slow unfolding of contradictory facts that exposed those lies — let alone Hillary’s claim to have been in New York City on 9/11, “Tuzla Dash” claims in 2008, her supposed rejection by the Marine Corps over her gender, and especially the attempt to slough off the planned terror attack on our Benghazi compound in 2012 as a spontaneous reaction to a YouTube video when speaking to the families of those killed in the attack. Brian Williams lost his position as anchor for repeated instances of fabulism, including in on-air remarks. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Tacoma Police Shooting Homeowner Statement
Posted: December 3, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere | Tags: Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, Domestic violence, Facebook, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jay Inslee, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, Police officer, Tacoma, The News Tribune, Washington Leave a comment
Debra Heine writes:
…Kristi Croskey owns the Tacoma, Washington, home where a domestic disturbance call resulted in a deadly police stand-off Wednesday. Tacoma police officer Reginald J. “Jake” Gutierrez was killed after being shot by a 38-year-old man — who was fatally shot by police hours later.
“I don’t want to hear about Black Lives Matter, because all lives matter” Creskey said. “I do not want to hear about the police officers being inhumane and shooting people unnecessarily or any of those things. I want to say that the Tacoma Police Department handled this matter with such professionalism despite their own being shot. I want to say that this did not have to occur. I want to say that when you make poor choices, and the response is someone being killed, if that may be the situation — I want you to know that the Tacoma Police Department did any and everything that they could to protect and serve.
Read the rest of this entry »
Media: ‘We Didn’t Get It. We Still Don’t Get It’
Posted: November 9, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: 2016, Anthony Weiner, D.C., Democratic Party (United States), Donald Trump, Donna Brazile, Elections in the United States, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, Huma Abedin, James Comey, John Podesta, New York City, Republican Party (United States), The Washington Post, United States presidential election, Washington Leave a comment
It would be too horrible. So, therefore, according to some kind of magical thinking, it couldn’t happen.
Margaret Sullivan writes: To put it bluntly, the media missed the story. In the end, a huge number of American voters wanted something different. And although these voters shouted and screamed it, most journalists just weren’t listening. They didn’t get it.
They didn’t get that the huge, enthusiastic crowds at Donald Trump’s rallies would really translate into that many votes. They couldn’t believe that the America they knew could embrace someone who mocked a disabled man, bragged about sexually assaulting women, and spouted misogyny, racism and anti-Semitism.
Sanctimonious and condescending, this self-serving passage perfectly illustrates Washington D.C.’s contempt for the American public.
It would be too horrible. So, therefore, according to some kind of magical thinking, it couldn’t happen.
“The Election of Donald Trump to the presidency is nothing short of a tragedy for David Remnick,” America writes. https://t.co/7z8lUpCulo
— Mike (@Doranimated) November 9, 2016
Journalists — college-educated, urban and, for the most part, liberal — are more likely than ever before to live and work in New York City and Washington, D.C., or on the West Coast. And although we touched down in the big red states for a few days, or interviewed some coal miners or unemployed autoworkers in the Rust Belt, we didn’t take them seriously. Or not seriously enough.
And Trump — who called journalists scum and corrupt — alienated us so much that we couldn’t see what was before our eyes. We just kept checking our favorite prognosticating sites and feeling reassured, even though everyone knows that poll results are not votes.
[Read the full story here at The Washington Post]
After all, you never know who’ll show up to vote, especially when votes are being suppressed as never before. And even the most Clinton-leaning prognosticators allowed for some chance of a Trump win.
But no one seemed to believe it in their bones. We would have President Clinton, went the journalistic conventional wisdom, and although she would be flawed, she would be a known quantity. There was a kind of comfort there.
Make no mistake. This is an epic fail. And although eating crow is never appealing, we’ll be digesting feathers and beaks in the next weeks and months — and maybe years.
The strange thing, of course, is that the media helped to give Trump his chance. Read the rest of this entry »
Suspect’s Identity Revealed; Arcan Cetin in Custody in Washington Mall Shooting
Posted: September 24, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption | Tags: Arcan Cetin, Burlington, Cascade Mall, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington, Washington State Patrol Leave a comment
The suspect in a shooting at a Washington state mall Friday that left five people dead has been caught, the Washington State Patrol said Saturday.
Arcan Cetin, 20, of Oak Harbor, was arrested, a spokesman for the state patrol said. The patrol first announced the arrest on Twitter at around 7:15 p.m. local time (10:15 p.m. ET).
Five victims — four females and a male — were killed after a gunman described as wearing a black T-shirt and black shorts opened fire inside a Macy’s department store at the Cascade Mall in Burlington just before 7 p.m. local time (10 p.m. ET). Oak Harbor is about 28 miles southwest of Burlington.
Rachel Marsh, 15, right, and Selena Orozco, 15, left, carry flowers as they attend a prayer service, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, at the Central United Methodist Church in Sedro-Woolley, Wash. The service was held in regard to Friday’s fatal shooting of several people at a Macy’s department store at the Cascade Mall in nearby Burlington, Wash. Both girls said they knew one of the victims of the shooting. Ted S. Warren / AP
Security footage showed the man entering the mall, apparently without a weapon. In additional footage from about 10 minutes later, he “entered Macy’s with a rifle and fired multiple times,” Mt. Vernon police Lt. Chris Cammock said earlier.
A handout picture provided by the Skagit County Department of Emergency Management earlier Saturday shows the suspect in the fatal shooting at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, Friday. WASHINGTON STATE PARTOL
The four female victims were pronounced dead Friday night, and the male victim was taken to a hospital where he died overnight, authorities said. Read the rest of this entry »
Open ‘Safe Places’ in Seattle, King County for Heroin Use, Task Force Says
Posted: September 15, 2016 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, U.S. News | Tags: British Columbia, Canada, Carfentanil, Dow Constantine, Drug overdose, Emergency medical services, Government of Canada, Heroin, Justin Trudeau, Kentucky, King County, King County Executive, Seattle, The Seattle Times, University of Washington, Vancouver, Washington Leave a comment
A task force is recommending the creation of sites in King County to provide medical supervision for people using illegal drugs like heroin, which would be the first in the U.S.
Vernal Coleman reports: The task force formed to help fight a heroin epidemic in the Seattle area has recommended the opening of public, supervised sites where addicts can use heroin.
The sites, supported by both King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, would be the first of their kind in the country.
“If it’s a strategy that saves lives … then regardless of the political discomfort I think it is something we have to move forward,” Constantine said during a Thursday news conference.
Murray said he would support establishing the sites if it can be done “in a way that reduces the negative impacts” on neighborhoods.
The recommendations released Thursday call for a pilot program to establish two “community health-engagement locations” in targeted areas where users can inject heroin under medical supervision as an alternative to public restrooms, alleys and homeless encampments like The Jungle.
[Read the full story here, at The Seattle Times]
The committee called for putting one site in Seattle, and another outside of the city in an area where a high number of heroin overdoses have been recorded.
“One of the driving ideas behind this is creating a safe space where we can get people the medical, prevention and treatment services already provided elsewhere,” said Brad Finegood, committee co-chairman and assistant director of the King County Behavioral Health and Recovery Division. Read the rest of this entry »
Special Snowflake Update: Dozens Arrested in Washington State Environmental Protest
Posted: May 16, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Global, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere | Tags: Anacortes, Anti-austerity protests, Anti-statism, Arrest, Bakken Formation, Barack Obama, Protest, Washington Leave a comment
Protestors and ‘kayaktivists’ came by land and by sea, camping in tents and floating in canoes.
Dozens of people were arrested in Washington state on Sunday, two days after protesters set up a blockade on railroad tracks leading to a pair of oil refineries as part of a global protest over dependence on fossil fuels, authorities said.
The protesters, camping out on BNSF Railway BNI tracks at Anacortes, Washington, about 70 miles (113 km) north of Seattle,refused police orders to disperse, said Katie McCulloch, a spokesman for the Skagit County Department of Emergency Management.
All of the 52 protesters under arrest were charged with trespassing, while one person was also charged with resisting arrest, according a statement on the department’s website. No injuries were reported.
[Read the full story here, at Fortune]
Billed as Break Free 2016, the protests on six continents are part of a 12-day campaign to call attention to climate change and to demand a transition to clean energy, according to the organization’s website.
“Break Free is about pressuring the system so we get the change we need, but it’s also about imagining an alternative,” said Ahmed Gaya, an organizer for Break Free Pacific Northwest. Read the rest of this entry »
Judge Tosses Seattle’s Absurd Ordinance Requiring Warrantless Garbage-Can Searches
Posted: April 29, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Law & Justice, Mediasphere | Tags: Arraignment, Associated Press, Beth M. Andrus, Food waste, King County Superior Court, Pacific Legal Foundation, Recycling bin, Renton, Seattle, Seattle Public Utilities, Washington Leave a comment
National Embarrassment: Seattle Public Utilities Privacy Violating Ordinance Laughed Out of Court.
Under the 2015 ordinance, garbage collectors were required to determine by “visual inspection” whether more than 10 percent of a trash can’s contents were made up of recyclable items or food waste. Violators are subject to fines.
The lawsuit argued that the ordinance essentially allowed warrantless searches, an invasion of privacy, and a ‘policy of massive and persistent snooping.’
Valerie Richardson reports: A state judge threw out a portion of a Seattle ordinance requiring garbage collectors to snoop through residents’ trash in search of food waste, calling the provision unconstitutional.
“Seattle can’t place its composting goals over the privacy rights of its residents.”
King County Superior Court Judge Beth M. Andrus issued an injunction against the garbage inspections but not Seattle’s residential food-waste ban, which forbids throwing away food scraps and compostable paper.
“A clear message has been sent to Seattle public officials: Recycling and other environmental initiatives can’t be pursued in a way that treats people’s freedoms as disposable.”
“This ruling does not prohibit the city from banning food waste and compostable paper in SPU-provided garbage cans,” the 14-page decision said, referring to the Seattle Public Utilities. “It merely renders invalid the provisions of the ordinance and rule that authorize a warrantless search of residents’ garbage cans when there is no applicable exception to the warrant requirement, such as the existence of prohibited items in plain view.”
Under the 2015 ordinance, garbage collectors were required to determine by “visual inspection” whether more than 10 percent of a trash can’s contents were made up of recyclable items or food waste. Violators are subject to having their garbage cans tagged and fines of $1 per can for curbside collections or $50 per collection for multi-family units. Read the rest of this entry »
Fence Jumper Detained at White House
Posted: November 26, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Cancer, Candlelight vigil, Childhood cancer, D.C., Funding of science, Josh Earnest, Lafayette Square, The Washington Post, United States Secret Service, Washington, White House Leave a comment
Bradford Richardson reports: The White House was locked down on Thursday afternoon when an intruder jumped the fence, according to the Secret Service.
The jumper, identified as Joseph Caputo, was immediately detained.
The first family was reportedly celebrating Thanksgiving inside the mansion when the incident occurred, at 2:45 p.m.
Images shared on social media showed a man wrapped in an American flag jumping the North Lawn fence and raising his arms after he landed….(read more)
Source: TheHill
Report: Secret Service Agent Arrested in Underage Sexting Sting
Posted: November 12, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Mediasphere, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, CNN, New York, Sex Sting, Sexting, United States, United States Secret Service, Washington, White House 1 Comment
“What would make you more nervous, riding on the motorcycle with me or having sex with me?”
— Secret Service agent, in one of the text messages
Delaware State Police reportedly caught the agent in a sting operation, after he allegedly sent several messages to an officer posing as a young girl.
The incident is the latest black eye for the Secret Service, whose reputation has been marred over the past two years by a series of scandals involving agent misconduct.
The agent requested meetings and sexual encounters with the state trooper who was posing as the girl. Read the rest of this entry »
Cato Book Found on Elon Musk’s Desk
Posted: October 14, 2015 Filed under: Mediasphere, Science & Technology, Think Tank | Tags: Atlantic City, Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, Cato Institute, Club for Growth, D.C., Dana Berliner, David Boaz, Donald Trump, New Jersey, Republican Party (United States), Vera Coking, Washington Leave a comment
Today, a Cato fan tweeted a photo of Elon Musk’s desk with a copy of the Cato book, The Dirty Dozen by Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy and Institute for Justice’s William Mellor.
Have you read it yet? Get your copy here!
[VIDEO] Hate Group Assaults Air Force Officer During Anarchist March in Olympia
Posted: September 8, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, U.S. News | Tags: Anarchists, Carpool, Hate Group, Interstate 5, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Lane, Olympia, Tacoma, The Olympian, Washington, Washington State, Washington State Department of Transportation Leave a comment
Jeff Schogol reports: Police in Olympia, Washington, are looking for two men who assaulted an Air Force officer during a supposedly peaceful protest Sept. 5.
Police in Olympia, Washington, are looking for two men who assaulted an Air Force officer during a supposedly peaceful protest Sept. 5.
The officer, described as a pilot at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, was stopped in traffic due to the protest when he was singled out by a “local hate group,” which calls itself the “anarchists,” according to a police news release.
“The protesters saw two confederate flags attached to the back of the victim’s motorcycle and surrounded him, rocking the bike in an attempt to knock it over,” the news release said. “They sprayed the victim in the face with mace, and struck him in the back with a baseball bat and a glass bottle filled with red paint.”
Police did not identify the Air Force officer, who suffered “severe eye irritation,” as well as a bruised shoulder and back in the attack, the news release said. A witness who tried to help the officer also was sprayed in the face with mace. Read the rest of this entry »
Forbidden Words Update: A Statement from Washington State University President
Posted: September 1, 2015 Filed under: Censorship, Education, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Academic freedom, Beasley Coliseum, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Elson Floyd, failure, Higher education governing board, Illegal immigration, Jay Inslee, Person of color, Professor, Spokane, Student, Syllabus, Washington, Washington State University, Washington State University Tri-Cities Leave a comment
Washington State announces it will not allow professors to ban words they don’t like – thecollegefix.com
PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University deeply values the tenets of freedom of expression for every member of our community, including all students, faculty and staff. Those First Amendment rights are reinforced in our policies, procedures and practices. Read the rest of this entry »
Backwards in Seattle: City Council Imposes New Gun and Ammunition Tax, Exposing City to Lawsuits: ‘The only real purpose of this legislation is to run gun stores out of the city. I know it, you know it, the courts will know it”
Posted: August 10, 2015 Filed under: Censorship, Guns and Gadgets, Law & Justice, Self Defense, The Butcher's Notebook | Tags: Bellevue, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Civil Rights, Firearm, Gun control, Gun rights, Gun violence, Harborview Medical Center, preemption law, Sales tax, Seattle, Seattle City Council, Second Amendment Foundation, Socialism, Washington 1 Comment
The Gun tax is designed to raise money for gun violence research and prevention programs drive gun stores out of business.
The Second Amendment Foundation says the city’s new law goes against the state’s preemption law which prevents any city or municipality from implementing stricter gun laws than the state.
SEATTLE – Hana Kim reports: Seattle city council members unanimously passed a new gun and
ammunition tax Monday afternoon.
“About a third of homes in Seattle have guns in them and our goal is that every one of those guns are safety stored.”
— Margaret Heldring with GAGV
That means more than 20 licensed gun dealers operating within city limits are facing hefty taxes starting January.
“Switzerland has a fully automatic weapon in every household yet violent crime rates are very low. The real problem in violent crime is economic disparity.”
— Gun shop owner Sergey Solyanik
City leaders say they hope to raise $300,000 to $500,000 a year through the new gun tax. But gun shop owners are now threatening to sue the city.
“Gandmothers Against Gun Violence marched to the steps of city hall on Monday in support of taxing guns and ammunition. They believe a $25 tax on each gun sold and up to a 5 cent tax on a round of ammunition will ‘help deter gun violence’.”
“Guns are out of control in this country,” Terri Hollinsworth with Grandmothers Against Gun Violence said.
The group says gun violence is an epidemic.
“Gun tax is designed to raise money for gun violence research and prevention programs.”
— Council member Tim Burgess
“About a third of homes in Seattle have guns in them and our goal is that every one of those guns are safety stored,” Margaret Heldring with GAGV said.
“No way the city will be making any money on this bill in fact they will be losing money.”
— Sergey Solyanik
Gandmothers Against Gun Violence marched to the steps of city hall on Monday in support of taxing guns and ammunition. They believe a $25 tax on each gun sold and up to a 5 cent tax on a round of ammunition will help deter gun violence.
“Gun tax is designed to raise money for gun violence research and prevention programs,” Council member Tim Burgess said.
But opponents of the measure took center stage in front of council members calling the measure unfair and ineffective.
“I am appalled that you are enacting an illegal tax that forces law abiding citizens to pay for the impact of violence committed by criminals,” one opponent said. Read the rest of this entry »
Arthropod News Analyst: ‘Terry McAuliffe Doesn’t Know What He’s Talking About’
Posted: July 28, 2015 Filed under: Food & Drink, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Associated Press, Chesapeake Bay, D.C., List of mayors of Washington, Maryland, Muriel Bowser, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Terry McAuliffe, Virginia, Washington, Washington State Leave a comment
Pundit Planet Roving Arthropod News Analyst comments on Virginia Governor’s Controversial Territorial Claim
‘Maryland’ Crabs: ‘They’re All Born in Virginia’, Says Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.
WASHINGTON — Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe has made a statement about Chesapeake Bay blue crabs that is sure to seem very inflammatory to die-hard Marylanders.
He made the remark during this month’s “Ask the Governor” segment on Newsradio 1140 WRVA in Richmond, while speaking about boosting the state’s oyster business.
“You know, Maryland talks about their crabs. And if anyone from Maryland is listening, I’m going to be very clear: All the crabs are born here in Virginia and they end up, because of the current, being taken there. So really they should be Virginia crabs.”
— Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe
His statement is not entirely false, though saying the current is the only reason some crabs migrate into the upper bay is questionable.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, male crabs tend to prefer fresher waters in Maryland and the bay’s upper tributaries, while females, especially spawning females, like the saltier waters of Virginia, near the mouth of the bay….(read more)
TAKE DOWN THIS STATUE: Expunging Woodrow Wilson #TakeItDown
Posted: June 25, 2015 Filed under: Censorship, History, Law & Justice, Think Tank, White House | Tags: African American, African American Studies, Black people, Charleston SC, Democrat Party, Flags of the Confederate States of America, KKK, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Race (human classification), Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, Racist, Washington, Woodrow Wilson Leave a comment
Randy Barnett writes:
…Now that we are expunging the legacy of past racism from official places of honor, we should next remove the name Woodrow Wilson from public buildings and bridges. Wilson’s racist legacy — in his official capacity as President — is undisputed. In The long-forgotten racial attitudes and policies of Woodrow Wilson, Boston University historian William R. Keylor provides a useful summary:
[On March 4th, 1913] Democrat Thomas Woodrow Wilson became the first Southerner elected president since Zachary Taylor in 1848. Washington was flooded with revelers from the Old 
Confederacy, whose people had long dreamed of a return to the glory days of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, when southern gentlemen ran the country. Rebel yells and the strains of “Dixie” reverberated throughout the city. The new administration brought to power a generation of political leaders from the old South who would play influential roles in Washington for generations to come.
Wilson is widely and correctly remembered — and represented in our history books — as a progressive Democrat who introduced many liberal reforms at home and fought for the extension of democratic liberties and human rights abroad. But on the issue of race his legacy was, in fact, regressive and has been largely forgotten.
[Read the full text here, at The Washington Post]
Born in Virginia and raised in Georgia and South Carolina, Wilson was a loyal son of the old South who regretted the outcome of the Civil War. He used his high office to reverse some of its consequences. When he entered the White House a hundred years ago today, Washington was a rigidly segregated town — except for federal government agencies. They had been integrated during the post-war Reconstruction period, enabling African-Americans to obtain federal jobs and work side by side with whites in government agencies. Wilson promptly authorized members of his cabinet to reverse this long-standing policy of racial integration in the federal civil service.
Cabinet heads — such as his son-in-law, Secretary of the Treasury William McAdoo of Tennessee – re-segregated facilities such as restrooms and cafeterias in their buildings. In some federal offices, screens were set up to separate white and black workers. African-Americans found it difficult to secure high-level civil service positions, which some had held under previous Republican administrations.….(read more)
No doubt there are others whose names should also be expunged. But because of his record of official racism and betrayal, Wilson’s name should be first on any such list. Read the rest of this entry »
Politicians Win, Public Loses: Supreme Court Upholds Obama’s Health-Law Subsidies
Posted: June 25, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Law & Justice | Tags: Anthony Kennedy, Barack Obama, D.C., Dissenting opinion, Health Insurance, Health law, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Subsidy, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington Leave a comment
Presidential Legacy Preserved, Achievement Enshrined: After Trash-Talking Supreme Court and Insulting its Integrity, Obama Reverses Course, Celebrates Wisdom of Court
WASHINGTON — Brent Kendall and Louise Randofsky report: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Obama administration can continue to subsidize health-insurance purchases by lower-income Americans across the country, a decision that preserves a centerpiece of the Affordable Care Act.
The ruling marks the second time President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement has survived a near-death experience in the courts, and leaves the law on a firmer footing for the remainder of his time in office.
The court ruled contested language in the 2010 health-care law allows the administration to offer subsidies in the form of tax credits to people in all states, including those who buy health coverage on the federal insurance site HealthCare.gov.
Roughly 6.5 million Americans in around three dozen states stood to lose credits if the Supreme Court had ruled against the administration. The court was deciding whether the tax credits could only go to people in the minority of states running their own online insurance marketplaces, where people compare policies and apply for coverage.
At issue was language in the Affordable Care Act that says insurance subsidies are available for coverage purchased on an insurance-exchange “established by the state.”
The Obama administration argued the entire structure and design of the law made clear its purpose was to extend affordable coverage nationwide.
[Read full text here, at WSJ]
Challengers who sued the administration—four residents of Virginia—argued the wording of the law authorized insurance subsidies only when an individual buys coverage on a state-run insurance site. Read the rest of this entry »
Rachel, Interrupted: Spokane Mayor Calls For Dolezal To Resign From Police Panel
Posted: June 17, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues | Tags: Dolenzalageddon, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Race (human classification), Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, Rachel Dolenzal, Spokane, The Spokesman-Review, Washington, We Shall Overcome Leave a comment
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Two top Spokane officials have called for Rachel Dolezal to resign immediately from the eastern Washington city’s volunteer police ombudsman commission.
Dolezal stepped down this week as president of the local NAACP chapter after her parents said she was a white woman who had been posing as black.
Spokane Mayor David Condon and City Council President Ben Stuckart said Wednesday that Dolezal and two others should remove themselves from the five-member commission after an independent investigation found they had acted improperly and violated government rules. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Celebrating Mental Illness and Fraud in Prime Time: Rachel Dolezal on Today Show
Posted: June 16, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Mediasphere | Tags: Activism, Al Sharpton, Black people, Blackface, CNN, Dolenzalageddon, Matt Lauer, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NBC, New York City, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, Spokane, The Washington Post, Today (U.S. TV program), Washington Leave a commentRachel Dolezal told NBC’s TODAY show she began identifying herself as black as early as the age of 5 years old, drawing pictures of herself with dark, kinky hair and dark skin.
“I identify as black,” she said. She said her hair style and light brown skin — “I didn’t stay out of the sun” — prompted people to assume she was black. She acknowledged that she didn’t correct people who made the assumption.
It was her first interview since news stories went viral last week detailing how Dolezal’s parents say she is white.
My Hair Isn’t The Only Thing That’s Kinky: The Autobiography of Rachel Dolenzal #racheldolezalmemoirtitles
— Pundit Planet (@punditfap) June 16, 2015
On Monday night, Dolezal’s parents told CNN that when she was growing up, she gave no indication that she might want to take on a new racial identity. Rachel Dolezal’s World Crumbles After Racial Identity Flap.
Rachel Dolezal carefully constructed a life as a black civil rights activist in the last decade in the inland Northwest, but that world is falling apart… Read the rest of this entry »
REWIND: Eastern Washington University Quietly Removes Rachel Dolezal from Africana Studies Department Homepage
Posted: June 15, 2015 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: Coeur d'Alene Press, Eastern Washington University, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, Rachel Dolezal, Spokane, The Spokesman-Review, Washington 1 Comment
…her mug used to be proudly displayed at the department’s website, but it’s gone now. The Google search for her name there redirects as well…
From John Nolte, at Big Government via American Power
pundit from another planet 