News of the Week for April 27th, 2014
- Election 2014
- Obama Scandals
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Election 2014
Cotton’s Former Drill Sgt. Helps Take On Pryor’s ‘Sense of Entitlement’ Jab
Tom Cotton brought in an old friend to playfully push back against Arkansas Democrat Mark Pryor’s comment that Cotton has a “sense of entitlement” from his military service: his old drill sergeant.
Mich. GOP Senate Candidate Laughs Off ‘War on Women’ Attacks
The “war on women” accusation isn’t going to work on at least one Republican candidate. In fact, she’s pushing back at the ridiculousness of the claim.
Senate Democrats Forced to Defend More Seats
In even a neutral political environment, the 2014 midterms were going to be a challenge for Senate Democrats. They are defending 21 seats to the GOP’s 15, with only two of the Republican seats at any kind of risk of flipping to the Democrats. Moreover, Democrats were defending many freshman Senators who first won office in in Republican states in Obama’s wave election in 2008.
Democrats Could Fail to Survive Primary in Waxman’s District
For 40 years, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has ensured that the Democratic Party owned West Los Angeles. But after a tough re-election fight in 2012 and the likely prospect of remaining in the minority in the Republican-controlled House for the foreseeable future, Waxman retired. Now, Breitbart News has learned, it is possible that the June 3 primary to replace him could fail to advance any Democrats to the November general election.
The pros and cons of using a cannon in your campaign ad
Browsing the election news this weekend, I’m starting to get the feeling that it’s going to be long mid-term cycle.
Obama Scandals
“F*** the EU,” Revisited
“F*** the EU,” top State official Victoria Nuland said on a phone call.
Gun Rights
New CA Gun Bill: Gun Manufacturers Must Pay DOJ to Be Allowed Back on CA Roster
California gun control bill SB 916 contains a requirement that manufacturers of guns that have fallen off California’s “roster of handguns that have been determined not to be unsafe” pay a fee to the CA Department of Justice in order to be added to the list again.
Wayne LaPierre: “‘Gun Rights Have Become a Metaphor for Something Larger”
And what is that thing that’s being lost? I think it’s social/cultural pluralism. There have always, of course, been forces for social/cultural conformity, on both the left and right. And dissidents and counter-cultural types have always been pressured to join the “default” American culture.
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
The hilarious history of ‘climate tipping points’
The UN is trying to scare us into believing we have only 15 years left. It looks ridiculous doing so, considering all the similar declarations that have come and gone.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Washington State threatens to send Obamacare costs through the roof.
What Obamacare does is turn all of this into a zero-sum game: it mandates an across-the-board, let’s-slap-something-together, we-don’t-care-about-your-stinking-special-circumstances product and doesn’t really care how insurers and consumers cope with the situation.
GOP Surrenders on Obamacare
A prominent House Republican acknowledged Friday that Obamacare is unlikely to be repealed.
War & Terror
19th-Century Diplomacy and a 21st-Century Paramilitary Beats Lots of 21st-Century Diplomacy
That’s the upshot of a recent piece of analysis by the New York Times, which indicates that Russia’s military capabilities so far in Crimea have seriously surprised and outmaneuvered the U.S.
Jihadists Now Control Secretive U.S. Base in Libya
A camp on the Libyan coastline meant to train terror-hunters has instead become a haven for terrorists and al Qaeda.
Why Militaries Mess Up So Often
In last week’s class with Professor Steven M. Teles, we started talking about military mistakes. Military mistakes are fascinating because they are, for most of us in the class, so unfamiliar. They’re also tragic, because they are so deadly.
National
Maryland Teachers Union Shop Steward Stages Coup
My apologies if this ends up sounding like a dispatch from some war-torn Third World country, but it really is a tale from southeastern Maryland.
Unearthed Footage Shows Progressive Hero Calling for Ban: ‘No More Babies!’
Margaret Sanger, called Margaret Slee in this clip as Slee was her second husband’s name, was founder and first president of Planned Parenthood. Sanger is such an icon on the left today that Planned Parenthood has named an award in her honor, and both Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi have both been awarded it.
Professor: ‘Racist, misogynist, money-grubbing people’ want to stop blacks, Latinos from voting
Brent Terry, professor at Eastern Connecticut State University, told his class that a GOP victory will turn America into a”very different kind of country,” “colleges will start closing up.”
High court upholds Mich affirmative action ban
The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Michigan’s ban on using race as a factor in college admissions despite one justice’s impassioned dissent that accused the court of wanting to wish away racial inequality.
U.S. Supreme Court upholds Michigan ban on affirmative action in Higher Ed
Sotomayor dissent: Removal of “race-sensitive” preferences equals “stacking the deck” and “forcing the minority alone to surmount unique obstacles”
First Among Equals
An Orwellian dissent from a muddled ruling.
Half a Win on Racial Discrimination
There’s a reason they call it “progressivism” — for years, the main legal question contested in affirmative-action cases, from Bakke to Grutter, was whether the state should be allowed to engage in racial discrimination. In the Michigan affirmative-action case decided today, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, the question was whether the state should be required to engage in racial discrimination. The progress, then, has followed the Left’s familiar ratchet-effect model, inching its way from “not forbidden” to “compulsory.” Indeed, as the Wall Street Journal put it, the question here was not whether the use of racial discrimination for putatively benevolent purposes is constitutional but whether states “may end racial preferences without violating the U.S. Constitution.”
Supreme Court critical of Ohio law punishing campaign lies
The Supreme Court appears to be highly skeptical of laws that try to police false statements during political campaigns, raising doubts about the viability of such laws in more than 15 states.
The Obama Administration’s War on Beer
As the craft beer craze rages across America, the Obama Administration looks on track to jack up the costs incurred by the industry by several million dollars.
UC ADMISSIONS: Latinos surpass whites for first time
The University of California has admitted more Latino students than white students as freshmen for the first time in the state system’s 146-year history, according to figures released Friday.
Sen. Markey’s proposal may threaten free speech
U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey wants the government to study and recommend ways to stop the Internet, TV and radio from “encouraging hate crimes,” but First Amendment advocates say the bill is a menace to free speech.
Bundy’s Black Bodyguard to CNN: ‘He Treats Me As His Own Family’
Cliven Bundy’s controversial comments about race are not reflective of the Nevada rancher’s character, according to Jason Bullock, his black bodyguard. He is standing by Bundy.
Second grade student says teacher took away her Bible during reading time
The family of a 2nd grade student at Hamilton Elementary says their daughter’s book of choice – the Bible – was an issue of concern for her teacher, and that two weeks ago, during a “read to myself” time, the girl’s teacher took her Bible away.
Articles Of Impeachment Introduced On Majority Of The Oklahoma Supreme Court
Lawless courts have become the bane of our lives. Rather than a society based on the rule of law we have become a society based on rule by judges. Oklahoma may be on the cusp of addressing that problem.
Wisconsin’s state Senator wants to rid state of ‘huge diversity bureaucracy’
Affirmative action in America appears to be dying by degrees. State Sen. Glenn Grothman would like to hasten the death of race-based preferences in Wisconsin.
Bill Encourages Schools To Teach About Racial Significance Of Obama’s Presidency
A bill that passed the Assembly with unanimous bipartisan support Thursday encourages California schools to teach students about the racial significance of Barack Obama’s presidency.
Economy & Taxes
The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest
The American middle class, long the most affluent in the world, has lost that distinction.
Boss make too much? California bill would punish firms that shower CEOs with money
Noting that America’s middle class has lost its distinction as the wealthiest in the world, two Bay Area lawmakers say they’re attacking income inequality with legislation that would link a company’s tax rate to the gap between executive pay and average employee wages.
International
Indonesian commander in chief of armed forces: China’s Dismaying New Claims in the South China Sea
The South China Sea has become the focal point of maritime disputes in Asia. Two of the claimants are China and Taiwan, while the other four—Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam—are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. While Asean as a grouping is not a party to the disputes, the organization has an interest in seeing them resolved peacefully and without affecting international freedom of navigation.
Ration Cards, Block Long Food Lines as Inflation Rate in Venezuela Hits 60%
The Bolivarian Socialist revolution has claimed the lives of 41 Venezuelans and forced thousands of others to suffer long lines in supermarkets for basic needs. While the political situation in the country remains dire, the economic situation continues to worsen: Venezuela’s inflation rate reached 60% this month.
Separatists seize control of TV HQ in east Ukraine city
Pro-Russian separatists on Sunday seized control of the offices of regional state television in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk and said they would take it off air and broadcast a Kremlin-backed Russian channel instead.
Britain: The Face of Shiny Happy Slavery to the State
I love the UK. In fact, I’ll be going there once again two weeks from today. I love the history. The cultural variations found all over the island. The people — who are, in my experience, generous and warm at the personal level.
Opinion
Four Great Myths of the McCarthy Era
Sixty years ago today, the ABC and DuMont television networks began their live broadcasts of the Army-McCarthy hearings, a two-month Senate soap opera that marked the final stage of the Wisconsin Republican Joseph McCarthy’s period of power. The hearings are most famous today for what happened when the senator tried to make hay of the fact that Army attorney Joseph Welch’s law firm employed a man who had once been a member of an organization with links to the Communist Party.
Why Democrats Are the Party of Inequality
So now we know why the Democrats are adopting economic inequality as their central issue: because their constituents, the people who live under policies crafted by the left, are the ones who experience the highest degree of income inequality in their own lives.
Charles Murray: An open letter to the students of Azusa Pacific University
I was scheduled to speak to you tomorrow. I was going to talk about my new book, “The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead,” and was looking forward to it. But it has been “postponed.” Why? An email from your president, Jon Wallace, to my employer, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), said “Given the lateness of the semester and the full record of Dr. Murray’s scholarship, I realized we needed more time to prepare for a visit and postponed Wednesday’s conversation.” This, about an appearance that has been planned for months. I also understand from another faculty member that he and the provost were afraid of “hurting our faculty and students of color.”
Wrong is the New Right
All the arguments over the differences between civil unions and marriage are largely meaningless. Once gay marriage is recognized, then marriage becomes nothing more than a civil union. The real casualty is the destruction of the word “marriage”, but the left is adept as destroying language and replacing meaningful words with meaningless words.
Joining the New Elite: A How-to Guide (Part 1)
The Old Elite made money, made movies and got elected to public office. Those days are over. Young people entering into life might not understand that the paradigm has shifted, and that those seeking social status no longer go by this outdated model. The New Elite is a group of youngish people that doesn’t actually produce anything, but is highly visible in liberal online magazines and low-rated cable news shows. This guide will help those seeking to join this exciting new club.
The Scalia – Sotomayor Thunderdome
Ed already brought you up to date on the SCOTUS decision regarding the Michigan referendum that ended affirmative action in college admissions, so if you happened to miss the story, read that first. It was one of the more raucous decisions in a while, with plenty of twists and turns in terms of who went with the majority or the dissent and what they said. But the Washington Examiner dug a bit deeper later in the day, finding what amounted to a bit of a slug-fest in the footnotes between Sonia Sotomayor and Antonin Scalia.
‘Freedom to Marry, Freedom to Dissent’ is a Nice Sentiment, But It’s Unrealistic
A worthy group of same-sex marriage supporters have penned and signed a gracious letter in which they all allow that Americans ought to have the right to object to same-sex marriage and not lose their jobs and livelihoods over it.
How Will “Ambush” Union Elections Affect Silicon Valley’s Libertarians?
Despite being one of the biggest strongholds of Democratic power in the United States, there are almost no unions representing private sector workers in the Silicon Valley. But a new NLRB ruling that takes effect next month is going to make it much easier to organize workers. Here, quoting from a March 26th Inside Counsel article entitled “Proposed ambush election rule from NLRB said to favor unions,” is a summary of the new rules
National Popular Vote Compact – The mother of all unintended consequences
It’s a national scheme whose time has not yet come, and likely never should
Mike Pence: ‘Our State Governments Are Not Territorial Outposts of the National Government.’
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence offered very state-focused address at the NRA Convention, touting his state to the audience assembled in Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium. He mentioned gun rights issues, but offered a broad review of the conservative policies he’s enacted so far, and why they’ve helped his state prosper.
@Voxdotcom… has no idea of what Japanese popular culture is like, does it?
I mean, yeah, that Avril Lavigne video* is pretty dumb, but this Ann Althouse commenter here has the right of it
Reading ‘Heterophobia’ I: Adrienne Rich and ‘Compulsory Heterosexuality’
Demonizing male sexuality, feminists have made hostility to heterosexual intercourse (PIV = pen*s in vagina) a persistent theme of their rhetoric for many years. When conservatives took notice of Radical Wind’s anti-PIV rant in January, many may have assumed that this was a new idea from the kook fringe of feminism, but it’s not. As I pointed out last year (“Taking Feminism Seriously”), Marxism and lesbianism are the twin pillars of feminist ideology, and have been since the 1960s. Most people don’t realize this, because feminism operates by a sort of duality: It has an exoteric rhetoric — a public discourse about “rights” and “equality” offered in mainstream venues — and an esoteric ideology, taught in advanced Women’s Studies classes and discussed in academic journals, where committed feminists are speaking to each other.
MSNBC: Hate Hate Hate!
The strategy of accusing the resistance of being “haters” has worked wonders in ramming through the homosexual agenda. Maybe it can help prop up Obama’s crumbling presidency. Here MSNBC apparatchiks hammer away with accusations that his opponents hate Obama, apparently imaging this to be an argument in Obama’s favor
