Category: Politics

Iranian Chess Master Refuses To Return After Being Photographed Without Required Hijab

We recently discussed the defection of Iran’s only Olympic female medalist due to the continuing discrimination and repression of women in that country. Now, Iranian chess master and referee, Shohreh Bayat, 32, has refused to return to Iran after pictures emerged of her without a hijab caused a controversy in the Islamic Republic. The decision is another painful example of the struggle of women under Islamic laws that deny them basic human rights.

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Virginia Moves To Ratify Equal Rights Amendment . . . 38 Years After Expiration

There could be a curious constitutional challenge brewing after the Virginia Senate Privileges and Elections committee voted to report the ERA to the floor of the Senate on Wednesday. That would be the 38th state to ratify but the vote ignores two glaring problems. First, the deadline for ratification passed 38 years ago and five states that approved the ERA have since rescinded their ratification.

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Advertising Authority in the United Kingdom Bans Computer Advert For Only Having Male Actors As Gender Stereotyping

I have previously criticized the new law, enforced by the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), that bans gender stereotypes in advertising. It is the ultimate expression of the “nanny state” phenomenon in the United Kingdom where speech is increasingly regulated and sanctioned by the state along a best values agenda. In 2019, commercials for Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Volkswagen were banned that left many of us speechless, particularly those who wanted to use humor in commercial speech. The latest example of this censorship is UK retailer PC Specialist, which saw an advert banned simply because it showed three men excited over using a PC for gaming. The problem? Women like gaming too. Just having men therefore further a gender stereotype.

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CNN Under Fire For Overtly Hostile Treatment Of Sanders In Iowa Debate

CNN has long been criticized for what many view as overtly hostile coverage of Sen. Bernie Sanders that goes back to the 2016 election where the CNN openly seemed to favor Hillary Clinton in her bid for the nomination. Yet, even for the most hardened critics of the network, yesterday’s debate in Des Moines was breathtaking in its unrelentingly negative questions of Sanders followed up relative softballs to others like Sen. Amy Klobuchar. However the lowest moment of this or any debate this year occurred when CNN reporter Abby Phillips made Sanders repeat his outright denial of the allegation by Elizabeth Warren that he told her that no woman could be president and then immediately stated that Sanders did make the comment in her next question to Warren. In watching with a room filled with people who are not affiliated with Sanders, Phillips’ statement led to loud gasps and Sanders himself seemed dumbfounded on stage by the bias shown by the CNN reporter. Later, Warren appeared to refuse to shake the hand of Sanders.

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Trump Retweets Highly Offensive Images Of Pelosi and Schumer In Muslim Garb

President Donald Trump is being widely and legitimately denounced today for a highly offensive image that retweeted of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in Muslim garb, including a statement that Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt that the image is “repulsive anti-Muslim bigotry.” I have repeatedly objected to outrageous and unpresidential tweets by President Trump and I believe it is important for all of us to object to this type of offensive imagery and commentary. It has no place in our politics and certainly no place in presidential communications.

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FISA Court Selects Lawyer Who Vehemently Denied FBI Misled FISA To Oversee FBI Reforms

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has triggered a wave of condemnations over the selection of David Kris, to oversee reforms of the FBI FISA process. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) presiding Judge James Boasberg, left, appointed Kris, a lawyer that the Washington Post describes as “highly controversial.
Critics have objected that Kris writes for Lawfare, a legal site widely criticized by conservative lawyers for its left-oriented, anti-Trump positions, as well as shows like Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. That objection strikes me as attenuated and unfair. The more serious allegations however is that Kris was one of the most public advocates for rejecting allegations of FBI abuse. In a city where you can throw a stick and hit ten lawyers, FISC went to someone who insisted that allegations of abuse were nonsense and should be rejected. If the court was seeking to assure the public, it has added a new controversy for those who see a “deep state” response to reforms.

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Polls Show Opposition To Trump’s Iran Actions

New polls have worrisome numbers for the Trump Administration. Despite Iran’s retaliation (thus far) being modest for the killed of a top military figure, some 56% of Americans say they disapprove of President Trump’s handling of matter with Iran, according to an ABC News poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs. The polls shows that the effort to portray Democrats as supporting a terrorist have not worked. Nor should they. It is entirely unfair to portray Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “trying to defend” Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani. She denounced Soleimani but reasonably objected to the lack of conferral and evidence behind the attack. We can have a disagreement over such killings without suggesting that some are supporting terrorists by raising constitutional powers and obligations.

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Iran’s Only Female Olympic Medalist Defects

In what could be an important moment for women’s rights in Iran, the country’s only female Olympic medalist reportedly defected to the Netherlands while denouncing Iran for its “hypocrisy” and making a veiled reference to being required to wear a covering in order to compete. We have long discussed the courageous women in countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran who have fought against crushing oppression and discrimination. The defection of Kimia Alizadeh, 21, will highlight that struggle and allow her to speak freely in the West. The defection comes at a time of protests over the false statements made by the Iranian government over the downing of a passenger jet.

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Trump Complains About Being Stiffed By Nobel Committee In Baffling Statement Over Ethiopia

President Donald Trump has previously raised his unrecognized qualifications for the Nobel Peace prize. However, for those of us watching the rally last night in Ohio, one statement sent us furiously typing on our computers and googling the latest news from the Nobel committee. Trump referred to just hearing that the Ethiopian Prime minister would receive the prize and noted the unfairness since he was the one who made the deal. In fact, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the prize last year in October and there is no evidence that Trump played a key role in his peace negotiations to end the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

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Chairman Smith Speaks Out Against Pelosi Hold On Impeachment . . . Before Claiming He “Misspoke”

Various Democrats are beginning to state the obvious: the hold on the submission of the impeachment by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not worked and will not work. From the very start, some of us stated that this was a ridiculous ploy that would not result in any concessions. What it has done is eviscerate the rationale for the rushed impeachment. Various Senate Democrats have broken with Pelosi over the ill-conceived strategy. The most stinging was Sen. Diane Feinstein who stated “The longer it goes on the less urgent it becomes. So if it’s serious and urgent, send them over. If it isn’t, don’t send it over.”

In the House, there has been an effort to declare success by the fact that there is a debate over witnesses, but the same debate occurred during the Clinton trial when the House acted appropriately in submitting the impeachment. Now, ranking Democrat has learned that stating the obvious is blasphemy. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash. declared that the hold had not worked and would not work. He said it was time to turn over the impeachment and not try to control another house. He was quickly given word that he was a blasphemer and declared that he had “misspoken” and then said the exact opposite. There is nothing more moving than a redemptive sinner.

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“It’s UnAmerican. It’s Unconstitutional”: Utah Senator Denounces The Iran Briefing As “Absolutely Insane”

An interesting thing occurred on Capitol Hill yesterday. A U.S. Senator demanded to be treated as an actual U.S. Senator. After the briefing by the Trump Administration on the “imminent” threat behind the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimanim, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee came out of the hearing irate at what he described as the “worst military briefing” he had ever witnessed. Lee is one of President Donald Trump’s most committed supporters and a hawk. However, he has a quaint notion of being part of an independent branch of government with independent obligations under federal law. Lee refused to simply rubber stamp the position of the White House and denounced the “briefing” as offering no real evidence and little beyond platitudes. Sen. Rand Paul joined Lee in criticizing the briefing as clearly insufficient. In response to this principled position, both have been accused of “empowering the enemy” by Sen. Lindsey Graham. Defending the authority and functions of Congress is precisely what the Framers demanded in our system of checks and balances.

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Antifa Critic Barred From Speaking By University of British Columbia

I have previously written about my criticism to Antifa and its anti-free speech agenda, including academics legitimizing efforts to violently curtail free speech on our campuses. It is tragically ironic therefore that the University of British Columbia has cancelled an event by a critic of Antifa, a decision that carries out precisely the goals of this vehemently anti-free speech organization. Portland journalist Andy Ngo was scheduled to speak on campus when the school, reportedly without notice, canceled the event due to an unspecified “concern about the safety and security of our campus community.”

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Trump Administration Should Not Block The Iranian Foreign Minister From Speaking To The United Nations

The Trump administration is reportedly barring Iran’s top diplomat from entering the United States this week to address the United Nations Security Council. If true, that would be an entirely unjustified and unwise move. We host the United Nations and, as long as we intend to do so, we have an obligation to allow travel to the United Nations, particularly by the leading diplomat for a foreign country. We can restrict his movements in the United States, but this should have been approved immediately in line with our agreements.

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Chelsea Clinton Rakes In $9 Million From Corporate Boards

Given the column today on Hunter Biden, another story stood out in the morning the mix. Barron’s is reporting that Chelsea Clinton raked in $9 million in compensation since 2011 from various corporations by serving on corporate boards. While Chelsea Clinton has not had the record of personal wreckage of Hunter Biden, one could legitimately ask why corporations like IAC/InterActiveCorp (with brands like Tinder, Angie’s List, and Home Adviser) are so eager to have her on the board other than her connection to her still powerful parents.

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The Bolton Factor: Pressure Builds For Witnesses In The Senate Trial

My column today in the Washington Post explores the possibility of witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial and specifically what the Senate might do if the White House demanded a clearly relevant defense witness named Hunter Biden. As the column was coming out, former national security adviser John Bolton announced that, if subpoenaed, he is “prepared to testify” before a Senate trial. Some of us have been saying for months that Bolton was signaling to the point of screaming that he was eager to testify. Nevertheless, the House refused to subpoena him, let alone seek to compel his testimony. It was the same counterintuitive position that led to the House to withdraw its subpoena for top Bolton aide, Charles Kupperman. Bolton’s announcement only highlights the baffling blunder of the House in rushing this impeachment before creating a complete and compelling record for removal. Instead, it effectively handed over control of the case — and completion of its case — to the Senate and the opposing party.

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