A sign seen in Hillary's neighborhood http://t.co/KQcqOuKtgi #ReadyForHillary #ClintonEmails #clinton2016 #ТCОТ pic.twitter.com/tatvdI9DbE
— The People's Cube (@ThePeoplesCube) March 13, 2015Hat tip: BadBlue News
A sign seen in Hillary's neighborhood http://t.co/KQcqOuKtgi #ReadyForHillary #ClintonEmails #clinton2016 #ТCОТ pic.twitter.com/tatvdI9DbE
— The People's Cube (@ThePeoplesCube) March 13, 2015Pew Research Center surveyed people in 44 countries last spring and discovered that America was exceptional in ways beyond economic wealth and military power. Americans really do think differently when it comes to individualism, God, and whether they are having a good day. Draw your own conclusions about correlation and causality:
QOTD: "State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki declined to answer directly Thursday when asked whether the administration was pursuing a “non-binding” nuclear agreement with Iran in order to sidestep the U.S. Senate advise and consent requirement that would apply in the case of a treaty.
She tussled briefly with a reporter over the matter, as he pressed her for an answer and she insisted she had already given one" --David Goodenough
The Hill reported today that the Republican letter to Iran has backfired. They said it jeopardizes the alliance Democrats and Republicans have formed to pass the Iran sanctions bill, a bill that might prove worthless in the end. Once this deal is through, Barack Obama will impede and delay any efforts by Congress regardless of the bill. What the hill failed to consider is the letter successfully sent the message to the Mullahs.
It is what is being lost in all this.
The letter infuriated Barack Obama because it told the Mullahs that any deal must include Congress and the president is not the sole decision maker. It infuriates Obama personally and ideologically to have his power limited.
Forty-seven members of the Republican senate united to make a point and the other seven are uniting to throw them under the bus along with the media.
The seven Republicans who did not sign the letter to Iran are out ripping it along with the Wall Street Journal. It plays into the president’s power over Democrats. The Corker-Menendez bill might now be in danger of not getting the 60 votes needed to pass but the message in the letter is arguably as important.
The Republicans should consider doing what the Democrats and a Hillary Clinton might do – dismiss the attacks and diminish the opposition. Instead of defending themselves, they need to use the opportunity to talk about the seriousness of this lousy deal. They need to make that case and not be distracted.
It’s understandable that some would not want to sign the letter but it is not understandable that they would then attack 47 of their colleagues and give support to the president’s case. If they think siding with the Democrats will get votes, they’re mistaken. They just gave them a platform.
Democrats are now insisting the Republicans denounce the letter on the Senate floor but the letter was 100% accurate.
QOTD: "The text of the Logan Act makes it a crime for citizens to engage in “any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government . . . with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government . . . in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States.” As Peter explained yesterday, the Senators’ letter certainly seems to fall within this language. But, critically, the citizen must act “without authority of the United States.” Although most assume that means without authority of the Executive Branch, the Logan Act itself does not specify what this term means, and the State Department told Congress in 1975 that “Nothing in section 953 . . . would appear to restrict members of the Congress from engaging in discussions with foreign officials in pursuance of their legislative duties under the Constitution." --Steve Vladeck (via RedState's "The ‘Logan Act’ is the Talking Point of Hacks and Morons")
Yet again, Americans can rest reassured their government officials don’t really know how to use email. Or technology for that matter. Save for Hillary Clinton, of course.
This has been made more clear after revelations that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used her private email address, hdr22@clintonemail.com, during her tenure to conduct State Department business, bringing the topic of email and Internet security back into the national limelight.
It’s claimed Clinton hosted her own email server at home, a practice endorsed by privacy enthusiasts as one of the best ways to avoid the government snooping on your private emails. The irony being, of course, Clinton was one of the country’s most powerful government officials and using this practice.
This set-up allowed Clinton to keep her emails far away from the prying eyes of the Federal Records Act, which requires government officials to keep digital records of their email correspondence. Her staffers only recently disclosed her emails to the State Department for review, according to the Associated Press, and only upon request.
A public probing of Clinton’s email set-up has revealed a staggering ignorance on the part of government officials when it comes to email specifically, and technology more generally.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, declared on national television on Sunday he’s never sent a single email.
Over the past two days, both U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki have admitted that the current nuclear deal being negotiated with Iran is “non-binding.”
Speaking at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today, Kerry said that the deal is not “legally binding.”“We’ve been clear from the beginning we’re not negotiating a legally binding plan. We’re negotiating a plan that will have a capacity for enforcement,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“We don’t even have diplomatic relations with Iran right now.”
Kerry made his remarks in the context of addressing what he called the “misconceptions” contained in the open letter released earlier this week that was signed by 47 Senators.
In an exchange with reporters at yesterday’s daily State Department press conference, Psaki was asked how the deal could be non-binding if the United States does not trust Iran. The video is embedded below the transcript.
QOTD: "Hillary has only two comfort zones: deep in a bunker or high on a pedestal. Drag her out of the former or knock her off the latter and she’s at sea.
In her very brief press conference Tuesday, she essentially admitted to the transgression she’s been accused of for the past week. She admitted to deleting thousands of emails. She turned over the public emails she deemed safe to give to the public and kept the rest, saying they were private, anointing herself to be the sole arbiter.
....This hints at the attitude that binds her and her husband: the belief that they are governed solely by what they choose to be governed by and what they do is right because they have done it." --Jonah Goldberg
Prior to the 2014 mid-term elections, Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee claimed it's "un-American" for Barack Obama to consider implementing an executive amnesty for millions of illegal aliens across the country.

Priebus said: "We will do everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen: Defunding, going to court, injunction. You name it. It's wrong. It's illegal. And for so many reasons, and just the basic fabric of this country, we can't allow it to happen and we won't let it happen. I don't know how to be any stronger than that. I'm telling you, everything we can do to stop it we will."
Given what has transpired since the election, how eagerly the Republican leadership capitulated, if not enthusiastically facilitated the funding and implementation of Obama's "illegal" executive amnesty; one can easily conclude that Priebus must have known what he was saying was not true or he was completely out of touch with the plans of the Republican Congressional leadership.
I think he was lying to get votes.
According an article in the left-wing outlet Politico and reported by Breitbart, Republican House Speaker John Boehner held secret negotiations with Democrat Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, leading up to his decision to flip-flop and fund Obama's executive amnesty; including a pre-hashed out deal to use the hoopla around Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's March 3, 2015 address to Congress over Iran's nuclear ambitions as political cover to sneak in the extraordinarily controversial vote.
Last night, author Trevor Loudon joined Glenn for an in-depth discussion on the growth of the progressive movement. In the interview, Loudon said that he believed Ted Cruz could be the leader America needs to lead it away from progressivism and back towards freedom. To secure his nomination, and eventually the presidency, Loudon suggested an unusual strategy: Cruz should name his cabinet and run as a team.
Glenn: So Trevor, you say that it is not the battle between Republicans and Democrats that is coming. You say it is the battle between…?Trevor: It’s basically between the constitutionalists and the Communists. Those are the forces operating in the country today. The Communists are basically taking over the Democratic Party to a large degree, and on the other side of the fence, you’ve got the Republicans who are about a third progressives, a third go-alongs-to-get-alongs, and a third constitutionalists, and they have their Tea Party allies, the 9/12 allies, etc. So, to save America, that third of the GOP with the Tea Party, with the 9/12s, they have to be the people that do this. They are the only force that can turn this country around.
From a distance, you watch what’s happening here in America. Do you see anybody on the horizon that you think really gets it?
Yeah, look, I’m a big Ted Cruz fan, to be honest. I think he’s the one with the inspiration factor. He’s got the leadership qualities. He’s the most Reaganesque out there. I’m advocating that he runs early and names his entire cabinet, runs as a team, and barnstorms this country, you know, he puts Rand Paul as Secretary of the Treasury, do what he damn well wants to the Federal Reserve and the IRS, you know?
Nobody’s ever done that.
It appears Hillary is being escorted to the press conference by Mr Bean pic.twitter.com/c9ptw62vzF
— Matthew (@Matthops82) March 10, 2015So, that Hillary presser went well. pic.twitter.com/nOLhL2XCfC
— jon gabriel (@exjon) March 10, 2015hillary clinton is richard nixon without the charm
— andy levy (@andylevy) March 10, 2015QOTD: "The Nightly News crisis exposed deep-rooted anger among many NBC journalists, who felt frustrated that Williams had been allowed to gain so much power. In recent years, the anchor had churned through executive producers who challenged him.
Others complained about Williams’s unwillingness to go after hard-hitting stories. Multiple sources told me that former NBC investigative reporters Michael Isikoff and Lisa Myers battled with Williams over stories. In February 2013, Isikoff failed to interest Williams in a piece about a confidential Justice Department memo that justified killing American citizens with drones. He instead broke the story on Rachel Maddow. That October, Myers couldn’t get Williams to air a segment about how the White House knew as far back as 2010 that some people would lose their insurance policies under Obamacare. Frustrated, Myers posted the article on NBC’s website, where it immediately went viral. Williams relented and ran it the next night. “He didn’t want to put stories on the air that would be divisive,” a senior NBC journalist told me. According to a source, Myers wrote a series of scathing memos to then–NBC senior vice-president Antoine Sanfuentes documenting how Williams suppressed her stories. Myers and Isikoff eventually left the network (and both declined to comment)." --Gabriel Sherman
South Korea lives under a US security umbrella. Both on a conventional and nuclear level, South Koreans are dependent on the US to deter North Korea from attacking them and overrunning their country.
Last Friday, US Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman scolded South Koreans for being too nationalist. In her words, “Nationalist feelings can still be exploited, and it’s not hard for a political leader anywhere to earn cheap applause by vilifying a former enemy.”The South Koreans interpreted her remarks as criticism of their President Park Geun-hye for her refusal to reinstate reunification talks with North Korea due to Pyongyang’s refusal to discuss the dismantlement of its nuclear program.
Sherman negotiated the US’s nuclear pact with North Korea in the 1990s. The North Koreans used the deal as a smokescreen behind which they developed nuclear weapons while receiving financial assistance from the US which paid off the regime for signing the deal.
Once Pyongyang was ready to come out as a nuclear power, it threw out the nuclear inspectors, opened the sealed nuclear sites, vacated its signature on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and began testing nuclear bombs.
Sherman is now the US’s chief negotiator in the P5+1 nuclear talks with Iran.
Are the Democrats in charge of Congress?
On its face, this question certainly seems ridiculous since Republicans regained control of the Senate and increased their majority in the House of Representatives last November.
But as we have witnessed over the last several weeks, just because Republicans have the most seats in the Senate and the House doesn’t mean they are actually in control. Just consider the Department of Homeland Security funding debate.
Last December, both chambers of Congress agreed to a $1.1 trillion dollar spending measure that funded the federal government through the next fiscal year with one caveat: the Department of Homeland Security only received a short-term extension through February 2015. Why? Popularly characterized as the “CRomnibus” deal, this action was promoted as an approach that afforded Congress the ability to address President Obama’s unilateral actions on immigration under the new Republican majorities by how they funded the Department of Homeland Security. Feeding off the momentum from the November elections, Republicans appeared motivated and equipped to tackle the president’s actions during 114th Congress.
“Come January, we’ll have a Republican House and Republican Senate, and we’ll be in a stronger position to take actions. [It is], “the most practical way to fight the president’s action.” –Speaker of the House John Boehner in December.
“If President Obama acts in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, Congress will act. We’re considering a variety of options. But make no mistake — make no mistake — when the newly elected representatives of the people take their seats, they will act.” –Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November.
Or so they thought.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has questions about twelve aspects of Iran’s past nuclear weapons research that the Islamic Republic has failed to satisfactorily answer, according to an analysis that appeared in The New York Times on Sunday.
These twelve areas of past Iranian research include computer simulations, detonation experiments, and delivery systems for nuclear warheads. While the analysis lists one of the areas of questions as having been discussed and two as “being on the table,” the other nine have not been discussed at all.
The one listed as having been discussed was research into electrically-fired detonators, which Iran explained as having applications for peaceful mining purposes. But experiments involving such detonators are believed to have taken place in the military base at Parchin, and Iran has not allowed a thorough investigation of the site. It has also paved over areas where the experiments are believed to have taken place.
According to the analysis, there is an ongoing debate among Western negotiators over how much weight to give to Iran’s failure to abide by past agreements (including the November 2013 Joint Plan of Action) and come clean about its illicit military nuclear program.
That inner debate, as one European official in the midst of the negotiations put it, turns on “whether to force Iran to explain its past” — especially before 2003, when American intelligence officials believe Iran operated a full-scale equivalent of the Manhattan Project — “or whether to focus on the future.”
American officials are vague when pressed on how fully Iran will have to answer questions it has avoided for years from United Nations inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Vienna. To date, Iran has dodged all but one of the agency’s dozen sharp questions on bomb design.
QOTD: "If you treat IRS rules the way the IRS treats IRS rules, you go to prison; if you treat federal law the way the secretary of state does, you go to prison. If you treat immigration controls the way our immigration authorities do, you go to prison. If you’re as careless in your handling of firearms as the ATF is, you go to prison. You cook your business’s books the way the federal government cooks its books, you go to prison.
Hillary Clinton is not going to prison. She’s going to release whatever emails she feels like releasing and dare any of you peons or your elected representatives to try to make her do otherwise. You’ll take what she offers, and you’ll like it." --Kevin D. Williamson
Climate Change: Gina McCarthy, head of the EPA, can't answer basic questions about global temperatures, climate models or numbers of hurricanes. She didn't know being a global warming zealot requires knowledge of math.
If the science of climate change was "settled," you'd think one of the generals in the war on global warming would have memorized the numbers that point to our planetary doom from a menace the administration says is a greater threat than terrorism.
But McCarthy was asked some pretty simple questions Wednesday at a Senate hearing Wednesday on her request for $8.6 billion to help fight the claimed imminent doom of climate change, and her performance didn't help her case.
One of the questions involved droughts and the claim that their frequency has increased due to warming that is said to be caused by mankind's increased production of greenhouse gas, such as carbon dioxide, the basis for all life on Earth but judged by the EPA to be a pollutant.
"Let me ask you this," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., inquired of McCarthy. "There was an article from Mr. (Bjorn) Lomborg ... from the Copenhagen Institute. He says, along with Dr. (Roger) Pielke from Colorado, that we've had fewer droughts in recent years. Do you dispute that?"
The seemingly clueless McCarthy pathetically responded that she didn't "know in what context he's making statements like that." Context? Truth has its own context, and the inconvenient truth that McCarthy wasn't aware of, or didn't want to face, is that Pielke and Lomborg are right.
He’s been selling us snake oil.
To most of us, this is not big news.
Gen. Michael Flynn, who served under Barack Obama as his defense intel chief, was interviewed by Bret Baier of Special Report this past week and it was clear to him that what Barack Obama was saying was diametrically opposed to all we knew was taking place on the ground.
Bin Laden, at the time of his death, was actively running al Qaeda. Al Qaeda was not on the run. “The lines were thicker and the organizations were more robust”. Gen. Flynn said.
QOTD: "Abu Bakr Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, has pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the emir of the Islamic State. Baghdadi’s organizations claims to rule large portions of Iraq and Syria as a “caliphate.” Shekau’s allegiance was made public in an eight and a half minute audio message released on Twitter. Shekau’s announcement, in Arabic, is accompanied by a simple screen shot showing a microphone and is subtitled in both English and French. An image from the message can be seen above.
Shekau addresses Baghdadi as Caliph Ibrahim, the name Baghdadi assumed after declaring last year that his organization was now a caliphate. “[W]e announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims…and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against, and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity regarding that which there is a proof from Allah,” Shekau says.
“We call on Muslims everywhere to pledge allegiance to the Caliph and support him, as obedience to Allah and as their application of the absent duty of the era,” Shekau adds. The emir of Boko Haram goes on to explain that he has pledged allegiance to Baghdadi “because there is no cure [for] the dissimilarity” in the Ummah [community of worldwide Muslims] “except the Caliphate.” He adds that should other Muslims pledge allegiance to Baghdadi it will only “enrage the enemy of Allah.”" --Thomas Joscelyn
#1 The Obama administration tells us that 8.69 million Americans are “officially unemployed” and that 92.90 million Americans are considered to be “not in the labor force”. That means that more than 101 million U.S. adults do not have a job right now.
#2 One recent survey discovered that 55 percent of Americans believe that the American Dream either never existed or that it no longer exists.
#3 Considering the fact that Obama is in the White House, it is somewhat surprising that 55 percent of all Republicans still believe in the American Dream, but only 33 percent of all Democrats do.