Sandra Fluke: ‘‘I’d rather be a captive Nigerian girl than touched by a Republican’’
... Speaking on NPR’s internet public radio station KCRW in Santa Monica, Fluke was asked her opinion on the situation in rural Nigeria, where Islamists are holding around 250 school girls hostage, threatening to sell them into sexual slavery (or worse) if the government does not release numerous political prisoners they want to see freed from jail. Addressing the matter of the radical group Boko Haram, which as killed, bombed and kidnapped people before and has the lowest opinion of women, Fluke told KCRW host Madeleine Brand on her afternoon show Press Play that the girls being held captive by the militants should “count themselves lucky” they weren’t being held captive by Republicans or working for Republican lawmakers.
“I must say that as dire and barbaric as these Boko militants in Nigeria seem, we have to remember that if these girls are released and come to America as political refugees, they could end up working for Republican lawmakers here in California or in Washington, or end up living in a Red state in the South, which would no doubt make them wish they were still in the clutches of militant al-Qaeda-linked rapist terrorists,” Fluke told Brand.
As
unsurprisingly liberal as NPR and KCRW are in their politics, even host
Madeleine Brand was taken aback by Fluke’s response, reiterating her
question: “You mean that you
would prefer that these girls be held in bondage and sold as sex slaves
rather than live in a Republican state in the U.S., or work on a
Republican politician’s staff?”
“Or worse, they could live in Utah!” quickly replied Fluke. “You know they have arranged marriages in Utah, and an only 10-child-per-family policy? Utah has the Great Salt Lake, too. Salt is bad for you, it makes your blood pressure rise and leads to heart disease. That’s very unhealthy. And who likes unhealthy people? –Republicans! …I
think that the kidnapped girls in Nigeria would find themselves in even
a worse situation here being around Republicans than they’re in right
now.”
When
asked by KCRW’s Brand if Fluke would consider herself luckier to be
held captive by bloody, Islamic fundamentalist rapists than living among
Republicans, Fluke said, “…I’ve heard the reports of rape and sex
slavery by the (Boko Haram) group, but it still does not rise to the
level of conservatives and Republicans here who want to make women have
to pay for their birth control or abortions, no matter what stage of the
pregnancy they’re in. And
really, as far as sex and being the ‘subject of controlling men’ is
concerned, I’d rather be a captive Nigerian girl than touched by
Republican. …At least the
Muslim extremists are upfront about what they want to do, where as
Republicans must lie about their despotic plans for the female race.Judicial Watch Obtains New Documents Showing IRS Targeting Came Directly From Washington D.C.
By Katie PavlichNew documents obtained and released through a Judicial Watch lawsuit show the targeting of tea party and conservative groups came directly out of Washington D.C., not a rogue IRS office in Cincinnati.
On July 6, 2012, former Director of the IRS Rulings and Agreements Division and current Manager of Exempt Organizations Guidance Holly Paz sent an email to IRS Attorney Steven Grodnitzky asking for an explanation of how tea party group applications were being handled. Grodnitzky responded by confirming the cases were being handled in Washington.
"EOT is working the Tea party applications in coordination with Cincy. We are developing a few applications here in DC and providing copies of our development letters with the agent to use as examples in the development of their cases. Chip Hull [another lawyer in IRS headquarters] is working these cases in EOT and working with the agent in Cincy, so any communication should include him as well. Because the Tea party applications are the subject of an SCR [Sensitive Case Report], we cannot resolve any of the cases without coordinating with Rob," Grodnitzky wrote.
When the IRS targeting scandal broke last year, officials in Washington immediately pinned the blame on the Cincinnati office. This documentation proves not only that direction was coming out of Washington, but that Washington instructed Cincinnati about how to handle tea party applications.
A new email from Lois Lerner also details how BOLO lists (be on the look out) were specifically created for tea party groups or groups with issues related to government spending, debt, taxes and "how the country is being run."
"Because the BOLO only contained a brief reference to "Organizations involved with the Tea Party movement applying for exemption under 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4)" in June 2011, the EO Determinations manager asked the manager of the screening group, John Shafer [IRS Cincinnati field office manager], what criteria were being used to label cases as "tea party " cases. ("Do the applications specify/state ' tea party'? If not, how do we know applicant is involved with the tea party movement?") The screening group manager asked his employees how they were applying the BOLO's short –hand reference to "tea party." His employees responded that they were including organizations meeting any of the following criteria as falling within the BOLO's reference to "tea party" organizations: "1. 'Tea Party', 'Patriots' or '9/12 Project' is referenced in the case file. 2. Issues include government spending, government debt and taxes. 3. Educate the public through advocacy/legislative activities to make America a better place to live. 4. Statements in the case file that are critical of the how the country is being run. . . " Lerner wrote on April 2, 2013. "So, we believe we have provided information that shows that no one in EO "developed" the criteria. Rather, staff used their own interpretations of the brief reference to "organizations involved with the Tea Party movement," which was what was on the BOLO list."
Judicial Watch also found the IRS put red and orange alert symbols on tea party issues for heightened awareness. Here are two slides from a "Heightened Awareness Presentation" used at the IRS.
Emails released by Judicial Watch last month show former head of taxpayer groups Lois Lerner was in contact with the Department of Justice about the potential criminal prosecution of conservative groups. In her emails about DOJ, Lerner noted that putting one person from a conservative organization in jail would create and example and "shut the whole thing down."
George Soros Speaks Before the United States State Department
By Victor Keith
Secretary of State John Kerry introduced billionaire George Soros, at a State Department forum held on Tuesday at the George C. Marshall Center, according to the Washington Free Beacon. The State Department stressed that this is “an in-house event for department employees only, not a public or press event”.
Apparently the wisdom to be conveyed by Mr. Soros is only fit for the
ears of federal bureaucrats who understand the nuances and “greater
good” of currency manipulation.
So
now we are now living in an America where one is told that Dr.
Condoleezza Rice is not worthy to speak at Rutgers University because of
character issues and the Koch brothers are “un-American” but George
Soros must be heard by the employees of our State Department. This is
the same George Soros who wrote in his 2006 book The Age of Fallibility: The Consequences of the War on Terror
that the “main obstacle to a stable and just world is the United
States.”. This is the same George Soros who is known as the “Man Who
Broke the Bank of England” in 1992 through currency
speculation. He is also the same George Soros who was convicted of
insider trading in France. His conviction was upheld by the French
Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights in 2011. Soros has
said his history of efforts to de stabilize foreign governments has been
“fun”.
That
State Department advises that Mr. Soros was invited to discuss his
“views on a civil society”. It would be cynical to point out that Soros
has donated millions to the pro Obama super PAC Priorities USA in 2012
and Kerry’s own presidential campaign in 2004. Since his speech is being
held behind closed doors, we can only speculate that he will be
expressing views that we know to be also held by many in the Obama
administration, including Kerry, that America is the real problem in the
world and the best way to effect change, is in the shadows. The “most
transparent administration in history” rolls on.
New wait-list fraud alleged in Illinois VA
By Ed Morrissey
That would put the list to seven facilities now where whistleblowers and/or media probes have discovered allegations and evidence of wait-list fraud at VA facilities. This CBS News investigation into the Hines, Illinois facility adds a new twist — performance bonuses. Germaine Clarno alleges that this facility had multiple, fraudulent wait lists intended to make the facility’s performance look better, and also intended to qualify its leaders for extra cash from the VA:
Germaine Clarno is a VA social worker and employee representative in Chicago. She alleges there are multiple secret waiting lists of veterans kept at the Hines VA Medical Center.Just how long has the VA known about the problem of wait-list fraud? Well over a year, NBC reported yesterday:
Asked which divisions of the hospital kept the secret waiting lists, Clarno says, “Employees are coming to me from all over the hospital, from outpatient, inpatient, surgery, radiology.”
Clarno says veterans were put on secret waiting lists when they called for appointments, but they wouldn’t formally get an appointment booked in the computer until one came up within the VA’s goal of 14 days. The purpose of the lists, she says, was to hide how often veterans were not being seen on time.
Clarno says the purpose of the lists was “to make numbers look better for their own recognition and for bonuses.”
The VA grants bonuses to executives and doctors, partly based on short wait times. Whistleblowers — including Dr. Sam Foote, who revealed the scandal in Phoenix, where up to 40 veterans may have died — believe bonuses give an incentive to conceal delays in care.
The VA is auditing all of its medical facilities after whistleblowers claimed employees were manipulating patient schedules to hide long wait times which may have contributed to patient deaths.They have known about the problem for 15 months — and only now are getting around to doing audits? Sounds like a typical VA wait time, eh?
“I think every American should be outraged about how our veterans are being treated American Legion National Commander, Daniel Dellinger.
An internal memo from March 2013 obtained by NBC shows top VA officials learned of the problem well before the current allegations, and had been quietly trying to fix it. …
“The question to the Secretary is, did he know? And if not – if he did not know what was in a GAO report or Inspector General’s report, why not?” asked Senator Jerry Moran, (R) Kansas.
Shinseki is scheduled to appear tomorrow at a Congressional hearing that looks more and more like a distinctly unpleasant experience for all involved. Whether or not he knew, Shinseki’s team apparently did, and Shinseki is responsible for their work. Shinseki needs to go, as part of a larger housecleaning at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.) insisted despite the current VA scandals the department overall is doing a “pretty darn good job” Wednesday on MSNBC. Tester added he does not believe VA Secretary Eric Shinseki should resign.
Host Joe Scarborough reacted incredulously, telling Tester he talks to veterans all the time who would take strong exception to the notion the VA is doing a “pretty good job.”
“I couldn’t disagree with you more,” Tester said.
The senator indicated he believes vets “truly appreciate the VA” based on his anecdotal experiences in Montana.
However, Tester then suggested much of outrage over the current scandal is unwarranted, stating “it’s in vogue to politicize everything going on with the VA.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (D., Vt.) made a similar implication last Friday, telling a Massachusetts forum the Koch brothers are behind an effort to “undermine the VA.”
These comments led Scarborough to explode in anger. “I talk to veterans all the time that wonder why Shinseki should still be there. They are killing vets in Phoenix, they are cooking the books.”
Tester’s comments are particularly disturbing as whistleblowers say officials have been “cooking the cooks” and destroying evidence at a Phoenix Veterans Affairs hospital where at least 40 patients died from delays.
Obama acts like he doesn't care about growing Veterans Affairs scandal
By Charles HoskinsonYou'll know it when President Obama really cares about something, because he can't stop talking about it.
Raising the minimum wage? Check. Climate change? Never misses an opportunity. Amnesty for illegal immigrants? Did that on Tuesday for what seems like the 100th time.
But there's one thing Obama doesn't talk about: the growing scandal over medical care for the nation's veterans.
There's a new story almost every day about how the Department of Veterans Affairs continues to fail veterans under its care. The drumbeat of media attention has led the American Legion and a growing list of lawmakers to demand the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.
What was Obama's response? To say -- through a spokesman -- that he has confidence in Shinseki and has ordered him to investigate.
Remember -- this is the same guy who found the time to pick up the phone over the weekend and personally congratulate gay football player Michael Sam on being drafted by the NFL -- when he wasn't playing golf. The same guy who attended five Democratic fundraisers in California over the past week, and has two others scheduled for Wednesday night in New York City.
And Obama is the same guy who never seems to miss an opportunity to weigh in even when it's not a matter of federal policy -- remember how Cambridge, Mass., police were "acting stupidly" when they arrested Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates in 2009? Or how his son would be just like Trayvon Martin if he had one?
When Obama cares, he makes the time to let Americans know about it. That's why it's not hard to conclude that he doesn't care about the fact that veterans are dying from bad care in hospitals that are under the direct control of his administration.
....So what do all those issues Obama talks about have that health care for veterans doesn't? The ability to mobilize Democratic voters.
The White House is in full campaign mode. Everything Obama does is calculated to rally the Democratic base and prevent a GOP takeover of the Senate, which would severely constrain him for the rest of his presidency. And admitting to another serious scandal on his watch is likely to rally Republican voters instead.
Since veterans can't help Democrats win, Obama won't help them get the quality care they deserve — unless political pressure forces him to do it.
Harvard's Kennedy School Adds 'Checking Your Privilege 101' to New Student Orientation
By William BigelowIf you plan to attend Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, better get oriented for your orientation; you may be privileged.
But don’t worry; there’s always room for spiritual growth. The school is adding a class titled “Checking Your Privilege 101” because of pressure from student activists, and that class will be part of your orientation!
Lucky you! Reetu Mody, a first-year masters student in public policy and a campus activist, exclaimed, “We’re at one of the most powerful institutions in the world, yet we never critically examine power and privilege and what it means to have access to this power. We’re excited to have the administration on board for training all Harvard Kennedy School first years.”
The attack on those who come from walks of life without a sob story to tell engulfed Princeton freshman Tal Fortgang, who wrote an article for the Princeton Tory in which he stated that calls to “check his privilege” – meaning to feel his shortcomings in empathy due to his “privileged” background – “threaten to strike down opinions without regard for their merits” and “solely on the basis of the person that voiced them.” Fortgang’s grandparents were Holocaust survivors, but apparently their success after their World War II travails is cause for denigrating their grandson.
Mody said patronizingly of those she considers “privileged:”
If what you’ve been told all your life is
you’re really talented and you deserve what you have, it’s going to be
really hard to find out Maybe I don’t deserve it, and all these other people equally deserve it but never even had a shot. Schools are not giving students a space to manage that loss of identity.
Mody joined other activists last fall, when they shared their
experiences in which people were intolerant of racial "critiques." In
October, they organized a meeting called HKS Speak Out so students could
share their stories, too. In the spring, they started
a Tumblr so those who wished to could report their stories anonymously.
In April, they mounted a “privilege walk,” featuring a “privilege
visualization exercise.”One of the students on the side of the activists wrote:
Sometimes I feel that whole topics would
be glossed over or completely misunderstood if I weren’t there to share
my poor minority perspective. I remember sitting in class first semester
and thinking, “No wonder the policies in America are so ass backwards!
Harvard policy makers have no idea what they’re talking about, no
accurate historical knowledge, no personal context, and no humility or
courage to simply admit they don’t know and ask someone who does.”
Mody puffs:
The substance of the training, while
still under discussion, is to prepare students to understand the broad
impact of identity on their decision-making and to engage them in
constructive tools for dialogue… If you don’t have an understanding of
sociology, political science, critical race theory, feminist critique,
and revisionist history, it’s going to be very difficult to talk about
certain groups’ experiences, and why these other groups continually have
this advantage in society.
Nevada School to Dad: Pay $10K to See Data Tracking on Kids
By Elizabeth KreftWhen a Nevada father of four tried to get the state education board to turn over years of data collected on his children, he was told it would cost thousands of dollars.
A whopping $10,914 to be exact.
John Eppolito, a former math teacher turned education advocate, is concerned about the data gathered on his children and whether it is accurate. He doesn’t think Nevada — or other states — should collect educational data on students without prior parental consent.
That’s when Judy Osgood, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Education, told Eppolito it would cost thousands of dollars to deliver the data. According to Fox News, the costs topped $10,000 because the education board would have to write a program to extrapolate the data on individual kids.
“Because the SAIN system is not designed to create reports that display individual student data in a readable format, the parent was initially told that the requested reports do not exist and cannot be produced,” the Nevada education department document reads.
“Upon continued insistence from the parent, [Nevada Department of Education] staff assessed how much programming time would be required to write new queries and develop a data table to create readable reports for the parent. Staff determined that it would take at least 3 weeks (120 hours) of dedicated programming time to fulfill the parent’s request. At the applicable wage rate of $84.95/hour, the requested work resulted in a $10,194 price tag.”
Harry Reid's Senate Blockade
A case study in the world's greatest dysfunctional body.
The U.S. Senate failed to advance another piece of popular bipartisan legislation late Monday, and the reason tells the real story of Washington gridlock in the current Congress. To wit, Harry Reid has essentially shut down the Senate as a place to debate and vote on policy.The Majority Leader's strategy was once again on display as the Senate failed to get the 60 votes to move a popular energy efficiency bill co-sponsored by New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Ohio Republican Rob Portman. Mr. Reid blamed the defeat on Republican partisanship. But the impasse really came down to Mr. Reid's blockade against amendments that might prove politically difficult for Democrats.
The Nevadan used parliamentary tricks to block energy-related amendments to an energy bill. This blockade is now standard procedure as he's refused to allow a vote on all but nine GOP amendments since last July. Mr. Reid is worried that some of these amendments might pass with support from Democrats, thus embarrassing a White House that opposes them.
In the case of Portman-Shaheen, Republicans had prepared amendments to speed up exports of liquefied natural gas; to object to a new national carbon tax; to rein in the Environmental Protection Agency's war on coal plants; and to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline. A majority of the public supports these positions and many Democrats from right-leaning or energy-producing states claim to do the same. The bill against the EPA's coal-plant rules is co-sponsored by West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin.
Yet the White House and Mr. Reid's dominant liberal wing won't take the chance that a bipartisan coalition might pass these amendments, most of which the House has passed or soon would. President Obama would thus face a veto decision that would expose internal Democratic divisions. So Mr. Reid shut down the amendment process. Republicans then responded by refusing to provide the 60 votes necessary to clear a filibuster and vote on the underlying bill.
It's important to understand how much Mr. Reid's tactics have changed the Senate. Not too long ago it was understood that any Senator could get a floor vote if he wanted it. The minority party, often Democrats, used this right of amendment to sponsor votes that would sometimes put the majority on the spot. It's called politics, rightly understood. This meant the Senate debated national priorities and worked its bipartisan will. Harry Reid's Senate has become a deliberate obstacle to democratic accountability.
And speaking of accountability, every supposedly pro-energy Democrat supported Mr. Reid in his amendment blockade. That includes Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, who is running TV ads back home attacking the Obama Administration energy policies that Mr. Reid is protecting from bipartisan majority rejection. She still claims to support a vote on the Keystone XL pipeline, and she blamed Republicans for not going along with Mr. Reid's vague assurance that he would allow a stand-alone vote on Keystone later this month.
But why not force the vote now? If Ms. Landrieu really had Keystone as a top priority, as she claims, she'd have joined Republicans in demanding an immediate amendment to a bill that she knows the White House is reluctant to veto. And she'd have insisted that Mr. Reid allow a 50-vote threshold for passage, rather than Mr. Reid's 60-vote supermajority.
Ms. Landrieu instead is playing Mr. Reid's double game, demanding a Keystone vote even as she undermines its passage. She is running for election by boasting about her clout as the new Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, but she is so ineffectual that she can't get her own party to allow a vote on what she claims is one of her top priorities.
The lesson for voters is simple: If they want anything meaningful done in the last two years of the Obama Administration, they will have to elect a Republican Senate.
President Obama distracts from Benghazi
By Lucy McCalmontFormer Florida Rep. Allen West is questioning the recent focus on the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls, suggesting it is intended to distract from Benghazi and other issues facing the administration.
...“I find it interesting that everyone (including the
First Lady) is now all up in arms about Boko Haram … this isn’t breaking
news,” West wrote.
West’s comments follow remarks about the issue by many on the right, including conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who expressed
skepticism about the effectiveness of the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag
campaign, which took off last week as news of the nearly 300 kidnapped
girls in a remote northeast region of Nigeria entered the national
spotlight.“[What] better time than right now, to create the straw man of Boko Haram, another distraction for which no real action will take place,” West wrote.
PK'S NOTE: Something fun:
COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America .
ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It's 7.8%.
COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?
ABBOTT: No, that's 14.7%
COSTELLO: You just said 7.8%.
ABBOTT: 7.8% Unemployed.
COSTELLO: Right 7.8% out of work.
ABBOTT: No, that's 14.7%.
COSTELLO: Okay, so it's 14.7% unemployed.
ABBOTT: No, that's 7.8%.
COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 7.8% or 14.7%?
ABBOTT: 7.8% are unemployed. 14.7% are out of work.
COSTELLO: If you are out of work you are unemployed.
ABBOTT: No, Congress said you can't count the "Out of Work" as the unemployed. You have to look for work to be unemployed.
COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!!!
ABBOTT: No, you miss his point.
COSTELLO: What point?
ABBOTT: Someone who doesn't look for work can't be counted with those who look for work. It wouldn't be fair.
COSTELLO: To whom?
ABBOTT: The unemployed.
COSTELLO: But ALL of them are out of work.
ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work. Those who are out of work gave up looking and if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed.
COSTELLO: So if you're off the unemployment rolls that would count as less unemployment?
ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!
COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don't look for work?
ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That's how they get it to 7.8%. Otherwise it would be 14.7%. Our govt. doesn't want you to read about 14.7% unemployment.
COSTELLO: That would be tough on those running for reelection.
ABBOTT: Absolutely!
COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means there are two ways to bring down the unemployment number?
ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.
COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?
ABBOTT: Correct.
COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?
ABBOTT: Bingo.
COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to have people stop looking for work.
ABBOTT: Now you're thinking like an Economist.
COSTELLO: I don't even know what the hell I just said!
ABBOTT: Now you're thinking like Congress
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