I have often been mystified by how some people justify the most base or hateful acts with religion. That seems to be the case with two truck driver Ken Shupe, 51, who was called to an accident where he found a disabled woman, Cassandra McWade, next to her car. He was reportedly preparing to tow the car when he spotted a Bernie Sanders sign in her Toyota Camry. He then announced that he was a conservative Christian and would not help her because she supported Sanders.
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Category: Media
The U.S. Navy SEAL killed in combat has been identified and the name will strike a cord with those of us who recall the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. He is Charlie Keating IV and, yes, his grandfather is indeed that Charles Keating. It turns out that the grandson is everything that the grandfather failed to become: a man of loyalty, principle, and unbridled courage. It is hard to imagine the loss of such a remarkable young man. The family gave this nation a true hero who gave his life fighting side by side with his fellow seals against Islamic extremists.
Backed by the United States, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has led a crackdown on civil liberties in Egypt, particularly when it comes to critics and journalists. In Egypt, a teenager was jailed for cartoons of Muhammad and a leading businessman was attacked for a cartoon of Micky Mouse with a beard. Then there was the three-year sentence given Amr Nohan, a 22-year-old law graduate for posting a Facebook image of al-Sisi with Mickey Mouse-style cartoon ears shown above. A leading cartoonist Islam Gawish, 26, was arrested in Egypt by the hyper sensitive al-Sisi government. This year, al-Sisi went after journalists who dared to even criticize his policies as a criminal act against the state. Now al-Sisi has finally had enough with the pretense of civil liberties. On Wednesday, he reportedly rejected even the notion that civil liberties should apply to Egypt as a “Western perspective.” In other words, such freedoms have no place in Egypt. What is really remarkable is that he told his to a congressional delegation from the United States without fear of any question over the massive aid that he receives from this country.
Hope Sanchez, 38, (right below), an adjunct psychology professor at McHenry County College, is at the center new case out of Illinois with a rather bizarre twist. She reportedly told her class about her finding an abandoned boxer puppy inside a duct-taped pillowcase. The incident was ultimately reported it to the police and the police determined that the story was untrue. Police charged her with filing a false report even though it does not appear that she went to the police.
I have previously written about the peculiar position of being counsel for Hillary Clinton when your client, her advisers, and allies mock the massive federal investigation that continues into her reckless use of an unsecured personal server for her official communications as Secretary of State. As counsel you usually strive to show investigators that your client understands the gravity of such violations and accepts responsibility for serious mistakes of judgment or action on her part. The Clintons however have been yielding to a political rather than a legal narrative in mocking the investigation — something that truly must mystify those FBI agents working the case. In the latest such example, former president Bill Clinton used a speech in Kokomo, Indiana to dismiss the FBI investigation is nothing more than “a game.”
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Below is my column in USA Today on the prosecution of three state and local officials in the Flint, Michigan water scandal. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has promised more (and higher ranking) defendants in the coming weeks. However, as discussed in this column, these cases are not as straightforward as the pictures of bottles of Flint water juxtaposed against clean water. While there are strong elements to some of the charges, the prosecution is not nearly as easily or obvious as has been suggested in the media, in my view.
Continue reading “The Flint Charges and The Murky Legal Waters Facing Prosecutors”
We have previously discussed the bizarre situation of two candidates (Trump and Clinton) with historic negative polling numbers emerge as the frontrunners for the general election. Six out of ten voters say that they are unwilling to vote for either Trump or Clinton. Now a new poll shows that over half of American voters believe that the primary system is “rigged” and more than two-thirds want a new system for electing their leaders. What is remarkable is how detached the system appears from the voters. The GOP primary is advancing a candidate with high exceptionally negatives for the general election. In the meantime, the public is in open revolt of the “establishment” so the Democratic leadership has lined up to guarantee the selection of the candidate who is the ultimate establishment figure. Now one-fourth of voters are saying that they will stay at home rather than vote for either of the frontrunners.
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As Western leaders like Angela Merkel cave into the authoritarian demands of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in crushing free speech, journalists and cartoonists are fighting back. After a Dutch journalist was arrested in Turkey this weekend for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the most-read newspaper in the Netherlands threw down the gauntlet and published a front-page editorial cartoon that shows Erdogan as an ape crushing Europe’s free speech. Since Erdogan demands the prosecution of journalists even outside of Turkey who insult him, the publication could force another confrontation with the aspiring dictator. In the meantime, the West (including the United States) continue to prop up Erdogan as he destroys secular government in Turkey, arrests journalists, and denies the most basic forms of free speech.
Our close ally in Turkey this week is continuing his comprehensive attack on free speech and free exercise. A Dutch journalist, Ebru Umar, a well-known atheist and feminist journalist, is the latest victim of the crackdown by Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdoğan was recently given a boost to his scorched earth campaign by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to first apologize to him for a comedian making fun of him in Germany but also approved a prosecution of the comedian . As Merkel abandoned any semblance of free speech in Germany to appease Erdoğan, the authoritarian leader set out to punish Western journalists in his own country who dared to criticize him. Umar recently wrote a piece critical of Erdoğan for the Dutch daily Metro, extracts of which she then tweeted. Her last tweet chillingly said “Police at the door. No joke.”
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The Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights is a respected organization established by intellectuals who seek to protect human rights in the Kingdom and the creation of both democratic and legal institutions that guarantee such rights. Not surprising, the Saudi government has treated such ideas as terroristic threats and has jailed many of its members. The latest is one of the founders Issa al-Hamid who was convicted of inciting people to breach public order, insulting the judiciary, defaming the kingdom’s senior religious clerics and establishing an unlicensed organization. Our close ally in the Middle East has once again shown how it stands in direct opposition to the most basic rights of free speech and free exercise. Rather than actually move its laws and government out of the Middle Ages, the Kingdom has hired a variety of top firms, including leading establishment figures like Tony Podesta, to improve its reputation with the American public (particularly with the expected release of the long withheld 9-11 reports pages that reportedly implicate Saudi officials in the attack.
At times Saudi Arabia and its medieval Sharia system seems a bad parody of itself. That is the case with this video of a leading Saudi family therapist inexplicably sitting on a chair in the middle of the forest discussing calmly the Islamically correct way of beating your wife. What is even more unnerving is this guy, Khaled Al-Saqaby, is not only viewed as sane and learned but is probably viewed as a moderate on the subject.
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By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
German Chancellor Angela Merkel keeps digging herself deeper with her latest statement regarding her government’s prosecution of satirist Jan Böhmermann at the behest of Turkish President. Now, the chancellor expresses her regrets for offering support to President Erdoğan at the expense of her countryman, claiming it was a “mistake”.
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We have been discussing the increasing monitoring and punishment of public employees for statements made during their personal time, including speech normally protected as free speech. The latest example of this trend is Dr. Eric Walsh, a public health expert who also serves as a lay minister. Walsh was fired for sermons on issues ranging from homosexuality to evolution. He has now filled a lawsuit and could prove important in exploring the protection for public employees with regard to political and religious speech outside of work. There remains an uncertain line as to the right of public employees to engage in free speech outside of work that may be offensive or insulting to particular groups or faiths. As a general rule, free speech demands bright-line rules to avoid the chilling effects that come with such uncertainty.
For civil libertarians, the administration of President Barack Obama fallen well short of the great expectations from his first election. Indeed, despite his high polling numbers with liberals, President Obama has left one of the worst records of modern presidents in areas like privacy, press freedom, transparency, and unilateral executive action. The antagonistic position of the Obama Administration with the media was evident in this year’s ranking by Reporters Without Borders. The U.S. is ranked 41 out of 180 countries in term of the “level of freedom of information in 180 countries.”
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A new poll captures just how dysfunctional our elections have become under the duopoly exercised by the two parties. Over half of the public say that they cannot support Trump, Cruz, or Clinton in the general election. Indeed, the two frontrunners, Trump and Clinton, have the highest negatives in their respective parties. The system has produced frontrunners that 6 out of 10 voters say they cannot support. If that is not an indictment of our current system, I am not sure what it takes to push toward reforms.
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