Saturday Steyn

Elections Matter?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

” “Elections matter,” declared President Obama in his 2012 victory speech. “Elections matter,” he reiterated shortly before the 2014 midterms.

  But it turns out they don’t. Not to him. You gotta hand it to the guy: It would be hard to devise a more open expression of contempt for the will of the people than what he’s just done. An election was held. His party lost, badly. And, without waiting for the new guys even to take their seats, in the so-called “lame-duck session” (an unnecessary carbuncular proceduralism most developed nations manage to do without), the President tells the – oh, what’s the word? – “citizenry”, “Hey, thanks for taking the trouble to drive to the polling station the other day. Leave your name at the desk and if we need you for cheering extras at my photo-op we’ll get back to you.” You can change legislators. Meanwhile, he’ll change the legislation.

  I’m getting weary of the monarchical comparisons, which are a bit of an insult to real monarchs. The Obama model seems to owe more to Judge Dredd, the popular comic-book figure with the power to arrest, convict, sentence and execute as he does what’s necessary to bring hope and change to a dystopian megalopolis. Likewise, President Dredd: “He is the Law, and you’d better believe it!” A contempt for the people and for constitutional and legal restraints is what ties the President’s actions on Thursday night to Eric Holder’s corrupt justice department to Lois Lerner’s corrupt revenue agency to Jonathan Gruber’s corrupt health commissariat (merely to skim the surface of the most recent additions to the unending Obama-scandals document dump).

  To express common-or-garden contempt for the will of the people, Obama could have simply repealed another handful of inconvenient paragraphs from Obamacare or made Lois Lerner Attorney-General, but the form of contempt he chose is especially exquisite: “legalizing” millions of foreign law-breakers and setting them on the path to US citizenship. The chief of state has heard the voice of the people and his message to them is: “Yeah, whatever, I can always get another people. Hey, here comes five million or so right now, plus another ten million in chain-migration relatives down the road…” “

 

Saturday’s must read …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Obama Is The Weakest President , Say Iranians

Top Iranian Official: Obama Is ‘The Weakest Of U.S. Presidents’

 

 

 

 

 

” The Iranian president’s senior advisor has called President Barack Obama “the weakest of U.S. presidents” and described the U.S. leader’s tenure in office as “humiliating,” according to a translation of the highly candid comments provided to the Free Beacon.

  The comments by Ali Younesi, senior advisor to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, come as Iran continues to buck U.S. attempts to woo it into the international coalition currently battling the Islamic State (IS, ISIL, or ISIS).

  And with the deadline quickly approaching on talks between the U.S. and Iran over its contested nuclear program, Younesi’s denigrating views of Obama could be a sign that the regime in Tehran has no intent of conceding to America’s demands.

“ Obama is the weakest of U.S. presidents, he had humiliating defeats in the region. Under him the Islamic awakening happened,” Younesi said in a Farsi language interview with Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency. “

 

Read more

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Saturday Steyn

A Show Of Contempt, At Home And Abroad

 

 

 

 

 

” Happy Easter, Happy Passover. On this Good Friday, we mark the tenth anniversary of Mel’s movie, and over the weekend we’ll have something with a lighter touch.

  Caroline Glick, my old colleague from The Jerusalem Post, has a column using a very Steynian word, “The Disappearance of America’s Will“:

  The most terrifying aspect of the collapse of US power worldwide is the US’s indifferent response to it.

  In Europe, in Asia, in the Middle East and beyond, America’s most dangerous foes are engaging in aggression and brinkmanship unseen in decades.

  That first sentence is very true. Thirteen years ago, the left hopped aboard the war-on-terror bandwagon for reasons of electoral self-preservation, and hopped off as soon as they could. But, after a decade of ineffectual thankless three-cups-of-tea transnational ersatz “nation-building” in Mesopotamia and the Hindu Kush, the right has largely checked out of global geopolitics, too. Whether the GOP nominates a compassionate amnesty guy like Jeb Bush or goes full Rand Paul, the world and its woes will not be much of a factor. Miss Glick again:

  The generation coming of age today is similarly uninterested in US global leadership.

  During the Cold War and in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the predominant view among American university students studying international affairs was that US world leadership is essential to ensure global stability and US national interests and values.

  Today this is no longer the case . It is because of this that the world is more likely than it has been since 1939 to experience a world war of catastrophic proportions.

  There is a direct correlation between the US elite’s preoccupation with social issues running the narrow and solipsistic gamut from gay marriage to transgender bathrooms to a phony war against women, and America’s inability to recognize the growing threats to the global order or understand why Americans should care about the world at all.

  If Putin closes down a transgender nightclub a week before the Special Olympics, he can get America’s attention. When he annexes neighboring states, not so much. Under Nato, the US has collective-security treaty obligations to the Baltic States, but if I were Estonian I wouldn’t bet on them. Not unless the Russians make the mistake of bombing a gay wedding in Tallinn.”

As always , read the whole thing from Mr Steyn who offers these words of wisdom …

” Around the planet, Russia’s neo-tsar, the Chinese Politburo, apocalyptic ayatollahs, Afghan goatherds and Benghazi jihad punks laugh at the very idea of American power, but on the home front, if your estranged wife failed to repay her college loan or you drink loose-leaf tea, you’ll get your door kicked down and be cowering in terror.”

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Lois Lerner May Have Voided 5th Amendment Rights With Prior Justice Dept Testimony

Lerner Likely Waived The Fifth And Can Be Held In Contempt

 

 

 

” While Lois Lerner’s reassertion of the Fifth Amendment, as well as the confrontation between Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R–Calif.) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D–Md.), soaked up all of the media coverage of the  IRS scandal last week, one interesting news item did not get much attention: the revelation by Lerner’s attorney, William Taylor III, that Lerner had given “a lengthy interview to Justice Department prosecutors within the last six months.” Even more surprising was Taylor’s admission that Lerner gave DOJ her testimony without getting any immunity from prosecutors.

  If that is true, the former IRS official’s reassertion of the privilege against self-incrimination at the March 5 hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is problematic. While the prevailing rule in most federal courts is that a waiver of the Fifth Amendment privilege at one proceeding does not carry through to another proceeding, that is not the rule in the District of Columbia.

  In Ellis v. U.S. (1969), the D.C. Court of Appeals specifically refused to adopt that rule, saying it was “unsound.” As the court held, “once a witness has voluntarily spoken out, we do not see how his protected interest is jeopardized by testifying in a subsequent proceeding, provided he is not required to disclose matters of substance which are unknown to the Government.” Under those circumstances, the court held, a person can reassert the privilege only if there is a “real danger of further criminalization.”

  Ellis involved a defendant who voluntarily testified before a grand jury but then refused to testify at trial, asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Similarly, if Lerner—without receiving a grant of immunity—voluntarily spoke to Justice Department prosecutors and/or FBI agents involved in investigating IRS targeting of conservative groups, she cannot now invoke the privilege to avoid answering congressional questions that would require her to give the same information she has already provided to criminal investigators.”

 

    This sounds like very good news for those of us that want to know the truth . Read more from  Hans von Spakovsky at Heritage

 Illustration by Gary Varvel

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Woman Talks Her Way From Bail Hearing To Three Hundred Day Sentence In Under A Minute

How To Go From 0 To 300 Days In Jail In Under 60 Seconds

 

 

 

” This video shows the hilarious moment a woman talked her way into a 300-day prison sentence for contempt of court.

  Ebony Burks, 32, appeared in Elyria Municipal Court, Ohio, accused of domestic violence and assault. Speaking to her over video feed, judge Gary Bennett told her she was not to have contact with either of the victims involved.

  Burks took issue with the fact she would not be able to contact or see her grandfather, Shedrick McCray, because she lived in his house.

  After she lost her cool, Burks was initially handed down 30 days by Judge Bennett. But as she continued to argue and speak aggressively towards the judge, he gradually increased the prison sentence.”

 

Conservative Outfitters has more

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Trey Gowdy : Obama’s Disregard Of Law ‘Has Reached An Unprecedented Level’

Congressman Gowdy Continues To Impress

 

 

 

Published on Dec 16, 2013

” South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy said Sunday that the Obama administration’s deliberate flouting of congressional law “has reached an unprecedented level,” claiming the time is now ripe for Congress to take the White House to court over executive overreach.

  Gowdy spoke with Fox News’ Shannon Bream about a House resolution authorizing a congressional lawsuit against the executive branch. Although individual lawmakers do not have standing to challenge the president, the provision would allow the institution of Congress itself to sue the Obama administration for ignoring laws passed by the legislative body.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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America Has Become A Nixonian Obama World

 

Richard Milhous Obama

 

 

 

 

 

” He’s compared himself to Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, evoked nostalgia for John F. Kennedy, sought to emulate Ronald Reagan, (belatedly) praised George W. Bush, and enlisted the assistance of Bill Clinton in his 2012 re-election effort, but as his second term stumbles along, the president with whom Barack Obama finds himself being compared is Richard M. Nixon.

“I’ll let you guys engage in those comparisons,” he replied when asked at a rainy Rose Garden appearance Thursday how he felt about the Nixon parallel. “You can go ahead and read the history, I think, and draw your own conclusions.”

This response echoed language employed earlier in the week by Obama’s spokesman, Jay Carney. “I can tell you,” the White House press secretary told reporters, “that the people who make those kinds of comparisons need to check their history.” 

Richard Milhous Nixon was thin-skinned, felt persecuted by the opposition party, had a penchant for classifying political adversaries — and journalists — as “enemies,” and tried to control his image so fiercely that, ultimately, zealous aides committed illegal acts to further his re-election.

But even before that had happened — and before Nixon himself began directing a coverup — truth had become a casualty of his administration. This is the parallel between Richard Nixon and Barack Obama.”

 

 

Illustration : Doug Ross

 

 

 

 

 

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Some Little Explored Facts About Police Shootings From James Bovard

Let’s Start By Controlling Police Gun Violence

 

 

 

 

   We will start by saying that this article really needs to be read by everyone that has an interest in the present gun control debate and to tell you that this information is not anything you are likely to encounter in the mainstream media . 

   That being said we are going to differ from our usual habit of posting a particularly engrossing paragraph in hopes of grabbing your attention . Today we are going to go through the entire essay and present you with some of the more salient facts that we doubt most of you are aware of . 

   In case any of you are unfamiliar with the author , here is a brief biography of James Bovard , a man who has worked tirelessly his entire life at promoting liberty , freedom , limited government and accountability for said State .

 

Here we go …

 

” While the president’s strident warnings about privately owned guns evoked a hallelujah media chorus, his administration is scorning a mandate to track how many Americans are shot and killed each year by government agents.”

 

Hardly surprising , given Obama’s Statist proclivities ..

 

” The same 1994 law that temporarily banned the sale of assault weapons also required the federal government to compile data on police shootings nationwide.”

Need we mention that this requirement has been completely ignored ? And note that police shootings are by no means an insignificant part of the annual killings nationwide .

 

” Shootings by police accounted for almost 10 percent of the homicides in Los Angeles County in 2010, according to the Los Angeles Times.”

Fortunately there are people out there who are attempting to do the government’s job .

 

” Jim Fisher, a former FBI agent and criminal law professor, compiled a database of police shootings and estimated that police in the United States in 2011 shot more than 1,100 people, killing 607.”

   Remember that number 607 fatalities , and that could well be very much a lowball figure since the police do everything in their power to hide the truth .

 

” According to the FBI, 323 people were killed nationwide by rifles in 2011 — less than 4 percent of the total deaths by firearms.”

 

   That is killings with ALL types of rifles . The statistics do not distinguish between single shot , pump , bolt action or semi-automatic so it is safe to assume that the number killed by any type of semi-automatic rifle is only a portion of that total . that means that the vilified “assault” rifle is responsible for considerably less than 4 % of gun homicides . Now understand that of the total “death by rifle” nationwide fully 10% of those fatalities invovle the police doing the shooting so that lowers the number of rifle killings NATIONWIDE to 291 … less than half of the people killed by police in the same time frame . 

 

” Not only do government agencies fail to track official violence against Americans, they also sometimes pre-emptively exonerate all such attacks.”

 

In the past the Justice Department has classified ALL police killings as “felons justifiably killed by police.” State and local police agencies are no more transparent about police shootings than are the Feds .

 

” For instance, Maryland police are protected by a “Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights” that prohibits questioning a police officer for 10 days after any incident in which he or she used deadly force. “

 

That would appear to be the rule as opposed to the exception …

 

” Investigations of police shootings in Las Vegas (which had one of the highest rates of police homicides in the nation) were stymied in 2010 and 2011 because “police unions balked at inquest reforms, first by advising members not to testify at the hearings and then helping officers file a lawsuit challenging the new system’s constitutionality…”

 

   That should give you the picture . As you can see the police and the Justice Department are the last one’s we should be listening to when it comes to having an honest discussion of the dangers posed to the public by an armed populace . The ” thin blue line ” is really a code of silence in regards to police accountability . As we said read the whole thing and take everything professed as the “facts” from the State with a HUGE grain of salt . 

 

 

Related articles

• Democrats Want Background Checks… Except When They Don’t (stoptheaclu.com)
• Perform Criminal Background Checks at Your Peril (fff.org)
• Criminal Background Checks: Okay for Gun Sales, but Not for Hiring? (nationalreview.com)
• Video: Chuckie Schumer Pushes Universal Gun Registration After Promising Background Checks Won’t Create Gun Registry (nicedeb.wordpress.com)

 

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2010 – 80,000 Denied Guns For Lying … 44 , Yes 44 , Charged

Hypocrisy On ‘Paperwork Prosecutions’ Highlighted By Reese Case

 

 

” “Nearly 80,000 Americans were denied guns in 2010, according to Justice Department data, because they lied or provided inaccurate information about their criminal histories on background-check forms,” The New York Times reported in January. “Yet only 44 of those people were charged with a crime.”

“How many prosecutions “have you taken up for failing a background check since you’ve been U.S. Attorney?” Graham asked Walsh, who admitted “Off the top of my head, I’m not aware of any.”

“What kind of deterrent is that?” Graham challenged. “Why aren’t we prosecuting people who fail a background check?”

“It’s a paper thing,” Chief Flynn shot back when it was his turn to answer questions. “I want to stop the 76,000 people who are buying guns illegally. If you think we’re going to do paperwork prosecutions, you’re wrong.” ”

 

   These laws obviously don’t work so let’s pass more  , maybe one of them will . What a way to run a country . So much for “Land Of The Free” .

  So if next to none of these violators merited prosecution does that mean they have the same friends as David Gregory ?

Related articles

• Anarchy Is Their Goal … Any Excuse To Maintain Their Power (youviewed.com)
• Should the government go after gun buyers who fail background checks? (washingtonpost.com)
• Pressure Mounting on President, Attorney General Regarding Lack of Prosecutions for NICS Denials (nraila.org)
• Police Chief Battles With GOP Senator Over Gun Background Checks: ‘You’re Wrong!’ (mediaite.com)

And They Don’t Want Us To Know Either

What the Senate Doesn’t Know About FISA

 

 

” Nancy Pelosi once said that we had to pass Obamacare to see what’s in it. Last week, Congress said we shouldn’t ask what’s in the federal surveillance law even after we’ve passed it.

That’s the most charitable way to interpret the Senate’s votes reauthorizing expiring provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) without any major changes or new checks and balances. The FISA amendments package of 2008 allows the kind of general warrants the Fourth Amendment was intended to prevent, giving the government a blank check for snooping on Americans.

It’s not so much that senators voted by lopsided margins to continue Bush-era warrantless wiretapping nearly five years into the age of hope and change (with the Obama administration’s blessing, of course). More surprising is their lack of interest in how many people are being spied on and how likely irrelevant data belonging to innocent citizens is to be ensnared in terrorism investigations.”

 

 

Related articles

• American government extends warrantless wiretapping until 2017 (dottech.org)
• Warrantless wiretaps? Congress votes yes (arstechnica.com)
• Senate Reauthorizes FISA, a Top DOJ Priority (legaltimes.typepad.com)
• Congress Disgracefully Approves the FISA Warrantless Spying Bill for Five More Years, Rejects All Privacy Amendments (eff.org)
• Why We Should All Care About the Today’s Senate Vote on the FISA Amendments Act, the Warrantless Domestic Spying Bill (eff.org)
• U.S. Senate Extends Warrantless Wiretapping Under FISA (newamericamedia.org)
• US Senate reauthorizes FISA surveillance law (jurist.org)

Contempt

Breitbart – One Voice Silenced, Millions Awakened

 

Majority Support for Contempt Vote

Ed Morrissey

  ” According to a CNN/ORC International survey released Monday morning, 53% of people questioned say they approve of the
House vote a week and a half ago to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents related to a controversial program called Operation Fast and Furious, with one in three saying they disapprove of the move and 13% unsure. ”

It gets worse for the administration …

  ”  More than two-thirds want more answers on the ATF operation that cost the lives of two American law-enforcement officers and
hundreds of Mexicans as well:
Nearly seven in 10 say the Obama
administration should answer all
questions, with 27% agreeing with the move to invoke executive privilege. ”

 

Contempt and Why It Matters

AWR Hawkins

  ” On June 28, while most people were still trying to wrap their minds around the Obamacare decision, the House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. Seventeen Democrats and every
Republican but two voted for the charges because of Holder’s ongoing refusal to comply with the congressional investigation into Fast
and Furious. Holder is the first attorney general ever to be held in contempt.

But what exactly does this vote mean, and what exactly will this vote do? “

In Historic Vote, House Holds Holder in Contempt

Reading the Handwriting

The Hill

”  At least four Democrats say they will vote Thursday in favor of placing Attorney General
Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.Democratic Reps. John Barrow (Ga.), Collin Peterson (Minn.) and Nick Rahall (W.Va.) will all
vote in favor of contempt in addition to Rep. Jim Matheson (Utah) when the measure comes to
the House floor on Thursday. “

Pelosi Says AG Contempt Vote ‘Frivolous”

Yes indeed , hundreds of deaths are ” frivolous” Nancy . You are a disgrace . https://www.youtube.com/v/D4JgkyJxuIY

Boehner: House to Vote on AG Contempt Next Week

Agent Killed in ‘Fast and Furious’ Gun Operation

https://www.youtube.com/v/NnP_yx6Bj0k

Executive Escalation

PJmedia :

  ” President Obama’s assertion of executive privilege today is a bit like the kickoff for the NFL regular season. It doesn’t end the Fast and Furious scandal; it just takes it to another level. Everything so far was the pre-season. Now people will start to pay attention.

(Read my review of the book Fast and Furious here for a great primer on the scandal.)

A president doesn’t assert executive privilege lightly. It is a relic from the powers of the king. Some things were not for parliament’s eyes, such as national security statecraft. This new phase of the Fast and Furious scandal begins with Americans who had paid no attention to the scandal hearing the news today and asking, “what are they trying to hide?” “

 

 

The new phase might possibly include members of the old media asking why the Most Transparent Administration in History, isn’t. Or, it might see them going all out to defend their president.

Contemptible Indeed

 Twitchy reports on the contempt vote that took place and was passed 23-17 and the resolution has been sent to the full House for a vote , possibly early next week . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  ” Despite President Obama’s use of executive privilege this morning, the hearing before a vote on holding Attorney General Holder in contempt proceeded. And proceeded.

Minutes ago, the vote took place.

Katie Pavlich@KatiePavlich

23-17 HOLDER HELD I CONTEMPT, now moves to the House #fastandfurious

20 Jun 12

• Reply
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Good For Me But Not For Thee

 

 

Once again we bear witness to the ” most open , honest , transparent and ethical ” administration ever . Read the quote below and guess whose words they are . 

“There’s been a tendency on the part of this administration to try to hide behind executive privilege every time there is something a little shaky that’s taking place, and I think the administration would be best served by coming clean on this.”

   Give up ? It could come from any number of pols these days but it actually dates from 2007 . Now what was happening then ? Was a certain junior senator from Illinois gearing up for a presidential run ? Why yes indeed . 

– Sen. Barack Obama (D – Illinois), 2007.”

  The depth of the hypocrisy that courses through the Leftist veins seems to be limitless .

Contempt … Administration Specialty

 

 

Holder continues to stonewall .

” Issa wants extensive documents, Holder’s offering a few documents plus, er, a briefing. If he doesn’t change his tune by 10 a.m. tomorrow, the contempt vote is happening.

This is some game of chicken they’re playing here.

The announcement Tuesday night by committee chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., followed a closed-door meeting at the Capitol between Issa and other Republican and Democratic lawmakers with Holder at the U.S. Capitol. Issa described himself as disappointed and still hoping for a breakthrough… “

Constitutional …

Constitutional  CYA Crisis is More Like It 

It would appear that someone/s is/are getting nervous . Go Issa .

  ” Facing a possible contempt charge and Republican calls for his resignation, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder signaled to Congress Tuesday a new desire to cooperate with an investigation into the Fast and Furious gun walking operation to avert what he believes could become a “constitutional crisis.”

Holder, who was made his ninth appearance before Congress, indicated that he wants to stave off an embarrassing contempt vote against him.

Still, by Tuesday Holder was fielding calls for his resignation from Republican senators with a growing list of gripes, including Holder’s reluctance to turn over documents about Fast and Furious, his decision to allow his own deputies to investigate possible White House leaks of sensitive national security information, and his efforts to prevent Florida from purging illegal immigrants and dead voters from the state’s rolls.”

…. Tumbling Down ?

Are we seeing cracks in Holder’s stonewall ? 

  “The Department of Justice told Republican House leadership in a Tuesday letter that it hopes to reach an agreement with congressional overseers on how much information about Operation Fast and Furious it is required to hand over.

Congressional Republicans have threatened to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for not fully complying with a 22-part subpoena served last October.

The letter comes amid reports that House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa has obtained evidence proving that senior Justice Department officials approved Operation Fast and Furious gunwalking tactics “