The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is still attempting to spin out of the scandal over the recently leaked emails showing that, as long claimed by critics, it was undermining Bernie Sanders and rigging the process for Hillary Clinton during the primaries. It would seem obvious to most of us that not only should Debbie Wasserman Schultz resign, but a number of DNC officials fired for the emails, particularly DNC CFO Brad Marshall. Yet, the DNC is been largely quiet and clearly hoping that Democrats simply do not care if they have been directly misled by the DNC, which sought to engineer the win for Clinton. It may be right. Many Democratic voters (like many Republican voters) seem to have simply accepted that politicians lie to them and that people who are demanding honesty from leaders are naive (or do not see “the bigger picture”). The DNC is clearly hunkering down to see if “this too shall pass” with voters. While Wasserman Schultz has given up her speaking role at the convention, she is clinging on to the chairmanship of the party. Update: Wasserman Schultz has resigned but there is still little media attention to Marshall, Davey, and others at the DNC who actively plotted against Sanders).
Category: Politics
There is a little reported story out of the Democratic National Convention where two Sanders delegates have been barred from attending the event. The problem was not their credentials or their conduct. State Sen. Tim Ashe (right below) and Ken Dean are men and the DNC ruled that there were simply too many of that kind in the delegation. Vermont was ordered to replace them with women, any women, so long as the delegation was equal. Ashe and Dean have filed challenges for good reason.
Zahra is a young girl who should be known to every person cares about liberty and the plight of young girls in many traditional Islamic areas. Zahra wanted to go to school and follow her dream but she lived in Afghanistan where girls are often treated like commodities. She ended up being transferred to a family as part of a dowry at 11 and married off while in the sixth grader. She was later allegedly burned alive and died in a Kabul hospital — she was four months pregnant. The reason was that the family (which reportedly beat her savagely) was mad that she was not working hard enough.
We have followed the rise of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has single-handedly destroyed Turkey’s secular traditions and rolled back on civil liberties. With the support of Islamic parties, Erdogan used the recent failed coup to complete his work in arresting his critics, forcing the resignation of thousands of secular academics, and suspending all civil liberties in a proclaimed state of emergency. The United States helped create the tyranny rising in Turkey in its support of Erdogan as he systemically dismantled the only secular, free country in the Arab world. Now, Erdogan is threatening the United States that he wants his greatest critic, US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, delivered to him and that a failure to yield to his demands would be a “big mistake.” Now, one could easily dismiss this threat as the ravings of an egomaniacal, delusional dictator with a persecution complex. However, Erdogan already forced German Chancellor Angela Merkel to reject basic free speech rights to appease him.
We have previously discussed the troubling efforts to bar conservative speakers from college campuses and social media, particularly Breitbart Tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos who has become something of an icon for young conservatives. Twitter has long been criticized for banning or harassing conservative figures, including repeated suspensions against Yiannopoulos. Now, the company is under fire for permanently banning Yiannopoulos — just 20 minutes before his “Gays for Trump” event takes place at the Republican National Convention.
The latest Islamic “honor killing” has claimed a feminist and YouTube star in Pakistan. Qandeel Baloch who challenged many religious and cultural norms for women in Pakistan was strangled to death by her brother, who has now admitted to the murder. Waseem Azeem told police that he was tired of ridicule by other Muslims for his nonconforming sisters and “I was determined either to kill myself or kill her.” Despite the universal view that the former option would have been far better than the latter, he decided to choke the life out of his own sister to uphold his view of Islamic morality.
It is the prototypical French scandal: CoiffeurGate. While U.S. leaders are hounded by national security lapses or fraud allegations, President François Hollande is under fire for paying roughly 10,000 euros per month to his personal hairdresser. The unpopular socialist has failed to deliver on key campaign promises and has reversed early disastrous policies that resulted in an exodus of wealthy people from the country. However, his pricey hair maintenance appears the final blow for many who are outraged as the excess of the President. To put it in perspective, Holland’s hair costs roughly the same as what one of his government ministers make in a year. What is particularly curious is that there does not appear a whole lot of hair up there to cultivate, but it is enough for a wonderfully French scandal.
Continue reading “CoiffeurGate: Hollande’s Hair Costs Leaves Many French In Shock”
Turkey’s rising dictator, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has prevailed from a military coup — a victory claimed in the name of the very democracy that Erdogan has been systemically disassembling. We have followed the ruin brought to the once fledging democracy of Turkey by Erdogan. His government has arrested the very journalists that he counted on to spread the word of his resistance, including Western reporters like Dutch journalist, Ebru Umar, a well-known atheist and feminist journalist. Umar 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.” Now, with the support of the United States and opposition parties, Erdogan has cloaked himself as the very personification of freedom and is clearly moving to wipe out any remaining opposition in the military and country with the justification of the coup. While no one should support a military coup, we should not delude ourselves: a dictator has survived and democracy in Turkey will die with his rise.
Continue reading “The Resurrection of Recep Erdogan: Democracy Prevails For The World’s Rising Dictator”
Advocacy groups will sometimes compete for members by moving to the far extreme of an issue. As we have discussed, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a good example. NARAL Pro-Choice has proven itself equally extreme in its message at times. The recent video parody entitled “Comedians in Cars Getting Abortions” is a good example. The video makes fun to seeking an abortion and refers to children as if they virtual vermin.
Continue reading “NARAL Under Fire For Video “Comedians In Cars Getting Abortions””
The growing tensions in the South China Sea just got more tense. A tribunal in the Hague has ruled that there is no legal basis for China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea. With a huge investment in the construction of artificial islands, China has responded by simply dismissing the arbitration ruling on international law. China boycotted the proceedings before the five-member panel from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. Many felt that the boycott reflected the weakness of the Chinese claims, which were unanimously rejected by the panel. Immediately after the ruling, China issued a statement that said that China “solemnly declares that the award is null and void and has no binding force. China neither accepts nor recognizes it.”
Continue reading “Hague Ruling: China Has No Basis For Its Expansive Claims To The China Sea”
In a surprising poll by ABC and the Washington Post, a majority of Americans disapprove of the FBI’s recommendation not to charge Hillary Clinton with a crime over her mishandling of emails as secretary of state. Moreover, a majority say that the scandal has left them uncertain and worried about her ability to be president.
I have long been a critic of the Supreme Court justices engaging in public appearances where they hold forth on contemporary issues and even pending matters before the Court. I have been particularly critical of the late Justice Antonin Scalia and Associated Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who clearly relished appearances before ideologically supportive groups. I have called this trend the “rise of the celebrity justice.” Now, Justice Ginsburg has started another firestorm over public comments where she joked that she would move to New Zealand if Donald Trump is elected. Canon 5 of the judicial ethical rules expressly states that judges shall not “make speeches for a political organization or candidate, or publicly endorse or oppose a candidate for public office.” The problem is that the Court has long maintained that ethical codes are not enforceable against its members as opposed to every other jurist in the country. This absurd position has continued because Congress has failed to act, something that I have previously criticized. Ginsburg’s statements this week reflects the continued sense of impunity enjoyed by justices who violate the core maxim that “no man shall be the judge of his own case.” The justices are the judges of their own ethical cases and they show vividly why that is a dangerous and corrupting power.
Continue reading “DID JUSTICE GINSBURG VIOLATE JUDICIAL ETHICS IN HER CRITICISM OF DONALD TRUMP?”
There is another arrest in the United Kingdom for criminal speech, a crime that is on the rise in the West to censor and punish those who are deemed hateful or insulting in their views. The latest arrestee is reported to be Matthew Doyle, 46, a partner at a London PR agency. He was arrested after tweeting about how he asked a Muslim woman to “explain” the terror attacks in Brussels. It was a stupid and insulting act, in my view. Moreover, Doyle reportedly used some slur for Muslims in later postings. However, none of that justifies criminalizing speech and the arrest shows the increasing appetite in England (and the West) for rolling back on free speech. Indeed, we recently discussed the Obama Administration’s threats of prosecution for those who speak in ways deemed misleading or hateful.
Continue reading “Englishman Arrested For Posting Anti-Islamic Tweets After Brussels Bombing”
There is a disturbing threat from an Obama Administration official that the Administration could prosecute those who “spread false information or inflammatory statements about the perpetrators” in an alleged sexual assault by juvenile Muslim migrants in Idaho. The remarks of United States Attorney Wendy J. Olson has triggered concerns over the criminalization of speech.
Conservative columnist and icon George Will has left the Republican Party in light of the presumptive nomination of Donald Trump and his announcement triggered another juvenile response from Trump on Twitter — followed by a reply from Will that may be one of the best put downs that I have read in years.