The Washington Post posted my column on Sunday discussing the passing of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, a towering figure on the United States Supreme Court and an icon for conservative jurists. It is regrettable that people today often demonize those with whom they disagree. Scalia was personally a warm and engaging person. Indeed, liberal justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan appeared quite close to Scalia as not just a colleague but a friend. I expect that Scalia has left a lasting legacy that will withstand the test of time, as I discuss below. He was a man of principle. One could certainly disagree with those principles, as I sometimes did. However, he left 30 years of opinions that challenged and often changed doctrines in a wide array of areas. These opinions show a depth and scope that sets them apart in the annals of the Court. Liberals and conservatives alike should be able to recognize the impactful and brilliant life of Nino Scalia. Here is the column: Continue reading “SCALIA AND HIS LEGACY”
Category: Politics
The Democratic National Committee has long been criticized as being overtly biased toward the Clinton campaign, particularly Democratic Chair Debbie Wasserman-Shultz. First there was the scheduling of debates when no one was watching and refusing more debates in what was universally viewed as a move to help Clinton. Then, when Clinton lost her lead in the polls, the DNC suddenly scheduled more debates at primetime hours. Now, with Sanders setting records for donations from ordinary voters, the media is reporting that the DNC rolled back restrictions introduced by presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008 that banned donations from federal lobbyists and political action committees. While it is not clear when this was done, the relative secrecy about the change on such a major campaign issue is pretty shocking. The Washington Post broke the story today. The issue of such contributions was only addressed in one substantive question by the moderators last night in the PBS debate. Many were surprised that neither moderator asked Clinton whether she would release the transcripts of the speeches in light of growing demands to see what she told Wall Street and banking groups.
There is a highly disturbing story out of Mount St. Mary’s University where the adviser to the school newspaper was fired after the newspaper ran a story of how university’s president, Simon Newman (left), had said that the school had to tighten its standards and get rid of less competitive students. He mocked colleagues who were resisting by reportedly saying “This is hard for you because you think of the students as cuddly bunnies, but you can’t. You just have to drown the bunnies.”
Bernie Sanders has repeatedly warned his supporters that they are up against the biggest political machine in the country with the Clintons and expressly criticized Hillary Clinton for her PAC and association with “attack dog” David Brock. However, one of the biggest liabilities facing Clinton is her continuing refusal to release the transcripts of her speeches to Wall Street and other groups. One solution appears to be snare anyone searching Hillary Clinton’s speeches. An unknown group of Clinton supporters has created a clearly misleading site called “HillaryClintonspeeches” that comes up whenever someone tries to search the controversies. What they find is not a site on the speech controversy but a pro-Clinton site that directs them to glowing reviews of Clinton and campaign websites. The unknown hosts of this site may have a perfectly legitimate reason for its title but I fail to see how it is not knowingly misleading given the growing controversy over the speeches. If you put in “Hillary Clinton speeches” to search the current status on the release of the speeches, this site now pops up.
Right-wing rocker Ted Nugent has never been the paragon of stability or reason. However, few were prepared for his raving attack on Jewish leaders who favor gun control. On his Facebook page, posted pictures of Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Charles Schumer, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and other leaders next to an Israeli flag under the banner “So who is really behind gun control?” The answer, according to Nugent, is the chillingly familiar: “the Jews.” This controversy seems to mystify Nugent who later wrote “What sort of racist prejudiced POS could possibly not know that Jews for guncontrol are nazis in disguise?”
Continue reading “Ted Nugent Unleashes Rabid Anti-Semitic Rant Over Gun Control”
It is fascinating to watch the growing controversy over the Clinton speeches and the decision of the campaign to stick with its refusal to release the transcripts in its possession. Hillary Clinton last week appeared to finish “looking into” releasing the transcripts of her speeches Wall Street and other groups. Voters and reporters have been asking to read what Clinton has said to these groups. After all, Clinton has said that she has only given Wall Street straight talk and that these firms stopped given her money. The latter statement has been called “demonstrably untrue” by the Washington Post. Clinton has thus far refused to release the transcripts and instead that she would only consider the release if everyone releases every speech ever given to any group. It had a certain Macbethian feel of guaranteeing that the final reckoning will never come “Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane.” The problem is that Birnam forest did come to Dunsinane. The demand has now produced the world’s worse comparison for Clinton. It turns out that Bernie Sanders has disclosed his speeches and has only given two paid speeches for $1,867.42. That is now being compared to the estimate that Bill and Hillary Clinton have made $153 million for speeches from 2001 to her announcement for the presidency. While this is just a one year period, Sanders has a lot of room to make up to reach $153 million. That is not to say that the campaign cannot argue that Sanders in the pocket of these two groups but it is clearly a very, very small pocket.
It is also being reported that Clinton was the one who insisted that the transcripts be made by her hosts and handed over to her total control. What I honestly do not understand is why the Clinton campaign continues to fit disclosures despite the failure of that strategy in prior scandals like the email scandal. Various sites have started petitions with thousands of signatures to get Clinton to release the transcripts. It would seem inevitable that she will have to release the speeches but will now be viewed as fighting any review by the public. I am interested in whether people believe that this position will be sustainable in light of the worsening environment for Clinton in the primary.
Continue reading “Report: Sanders Made $1,892 From Speeches Last Year In Comparison $153 Million for The Clintons Since 2001”
Like many people, my family held a Superbowl party with friends (and my signature Chili dish) to watch both the game and the commercials. The group is about evenly divided between which is the greater draw, though with a relatively dull game the commercials took on a heightened level of scrutiny. The commercials were not a bumper crop this year but there were a few particularly funny spots. I liked the Doritos baby commercial, the Christopher Walkin commercial, the Willem Dafoe/Snickers commercial and the Prius commercial the most. They are posted below. However, NARAL Pro-Choice America, a leading advocacy group on the issue of abortion, quickly sent out tweets denouncing various commercials in an apparent effort to show critics that the organization is truly incapable of humor or restraint at such moments.
Continue reading “NARAL Denounces Superbowl Ads as “Transphobic” and “Sexist””
Spanish Puppeteers Alfónso Lázaro de la Torre and Raul García Pérez could be headed to prison after a decision by Judge Ismael Moreno Chamarro. The Court noted that the two men performed for children in a play that included “the hanging of a doll dressed as a judge, the stabbing of policeman, the rape of a nun and her later stabbing with a crucifix”. That is certainly a large measure beyond the Punch and Judy shows that we grew up with. However, the question remains whether such shows, as disgusting as they are, should be turned into criminalized speech or left to civil liability and public pressures.
Continue reading “Spanish Court Orders The Arrest of Puppeteers For Glorifying Terrorism”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Three weeks ago, we featured an article describing the plight of dozens of academics who faced arrest after signing a peace petition. These advocates were declared enemies of the Republic of Turkey. Now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government will put on trial a Turkish professor who placed onto an exam questions referencing PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Ankara University professor Resat Baris Unlu faces charges for spreading “terrorist propaganda” after presenting his students a question comparing two documents written by the founder of the proscribed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who is currently serving a life sentence.
We have previously discussed the bizarre treatment of young women who have turned to Bernie Sanders with other young people in unprecedented numbers. Democratic and feminist leaders have increasingly treated those women as ignorant, naive or disloyal. However the most shocking and sexist statement came from feminist icon Gloria Steinem who told Bill Maher on Friday night that young women are simply looking for boys and the “boys are with Bernie.” In the meantime, with Hillary Clinton next to her, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that women supporting Sanders should go to hell. Why? These are women who are refusing to be sexist and simply support Clinton because she is a women. Isn’t that what the gender revolution was about? Many young women have been polled and say that they view Clinton as dishonest and the very personification of the establishment. One can certainly contest those views but the idea that women should be damned or dismissed for not supporting a woman should seem . . . well . . . sexist. Moreover, I fail to see how any of this is helping change any minds among young women.
Continue reading “Steinem: Young Women Supporting Sanders Are Just Looking For Men”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Washington State Rep. Mary Dye of Pomeroy seems to have a curious interest concerning students visiting the state capitol–they should be questioned as to their virginity.
As part of a visit to the Washington State Capitol, Planned Parenthood’s annual Teen Lobbying Day participants met with Representative Dye to advocate bills proposing the expansion of insurance coverage for birth control. But it seemed that our representative wanted a little more information than expected.
It apparently was necessary for these teenagers to disclose their sexual activities to Washington’s self-appointed Virgin Tester.
Continue reading “Washington Lawmaker Needs To Know If Visiting Students Are Virgins”
I have found the Democratic debates really interesting to watch. For the first time in my lifetime, these debates actually have some substance and drama. There was a couple of interesting moments last night, including the suggestion by Hillary Clinton that it is out of bounds for Sanders to raise the money that she has taken from Wall Street as a “smear.” I thought that Clinton did a good job on various points with strong responses, including the progressive label issue. However, one of the most intriguing moments was Clinton saying that it was ridiculous to call her the “establishment” candidate because she is a woman. For many, the Clintons are the personification of the establishment with huge donors, PACs, control of the DNC, and a massive political machine. Even the Washington Post responded with “Come on” to the suggestion that she is not the ultimate establishment candidate. Yet, Clinton’s point is that she is also the trying to become the first woman president and thus must be considered an outsider candidate. It seemed to resonate with the crowd, though Sanders appears to have tied Clinton in a national poll despite an concerted campaign from Democratic leaders and politicians aligned with Clinton. I thought it would make for an interesting discussion on the blog.
Continue reading “Clinton: I Cannot Be Part Of The “Establishment” As A Woman Running For President”
Israeli Culture and Sports Minister (and former Brigadier General) Miri Regev has a curious view of democracy. Regev is the author of a “cultural loyalty” bill that would allow fines or withdrawing support for any institution for a host of free speech violations, including “the denial of Israel’s democratic nature.” Thus, the bill would allow Israel to punish those who challenge its commitment to democracy so that Israel can show that it is a democracy. Follow? Let’s try again. If someone denies Israel is a true democracy, they will be punished of using their free speech to criticize the government. Well, the important thing is that it all makes sense to Regev. It is taken from the same oxymoronic lesson book as “the beatings will continue until morale improves” or “destroying a village to save it.”
We recently talked about how a poll showing that 17 percent of the federal government workforce would resign if Donald Trump were elected. It seemed to me a perfect pitch for Trump to make to conservatives that he has already delivered on shrinking the size of government. Now Bernie Sanders may have been given the greatest possible gift from a past donor for the Clintons. The CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, has given an interview and warns that Sanders is “dangerous.” If that is not the next political ad from the Sanders campaign, they are asleep at the switch.
It seems like our allies in Egypt and Turkey have a particular intolerance for cartoonists and satirists in their parallel crackdowns on free speech. In Turkey, the Miss Turkey was arrested for repeating a satirical comparison of President Erdogan to Gollum. 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 President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with Mickey Mouse-style cartoon ears (shown left). Now a leading cartoonist Islam Gawish, 26, has been arrested in Egypt by the hyper sensitive el-Sisi government.
Continue reading “Leading Egyptian Cartoonist Arrested After Satirizing Ally Of President El-Sisi”