Day: May 13, 2019

Maligned Memphis Judge James Lammey Threatens Legal Action Against Memphis Commercial Appeal

Chris Butler

  An attorney representing Memphis Judge James Lammey has asked The Memphis Commercial Appeal to retract and apologize for an article suggesting he is an anti-semite. As The Tennessee Star reported, an article Lammey shared  on Facebook— with David Cole as author — appeared on a website called takimag.com and was, at least according to the newspaper, anti-Semitic in nature. Lammey told The Tennessee Star he never agreed with the content and said as much on Facebook. Lammey only said he thought it was interesting. In his letter, Bolivar-based attorney Stephen L. Hale told the newspaper their article was “reckless, defamatory, and constitutes libel, per se.” “The publisher has used this opportunity to launch not only a political attack against a sitting judge but to assail his core values as a civilized human being. Because of the publisher’s purposeful and reckless avoidance of the truth the reputation of Judge Lammey has been irreparably harmed; he has received hundreds of phone calls from all parts of the country accusing him of being a Holocaust denier, anti-Semite and racist,” Hale wrote. “Valuable time has been taken away from his duties the citizens of Shelby County, Tennessee elected him to do as well as the time his…

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Commentary: Democrats’ Collapse Could Happen Quickly

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by Karin McQuillan   There are signs of Democrats’ coming electoral collapse, some anecdotal, some by the numbers. Most Democrats are staying loyal to their party, no matter how far how left their party shifts. But President Trump doesn’t need most Democrats; he only needs a few to get turned off by the Democrats’ radical proposals and identity politics. Immediately after the 2018 midterms, it looked as if the strategy of dirtying President Trump in the eyes of low-information voters was working well for them. The collapse of the Russian collusion hoax has changed the equation. Congress continues to dominate the media with ginned-up hysteria, but many voters are ready to move on to more substantial issues that affect their lives. Real life is a weaker arena for Democrats. They seem to be avoiding it as much as possible, focusing instead on claims that Republicans are white supremacists. The Democrats’ 2020 presidential candidates are competing with their own congressmen for air time and the never-ending Russian collusion hoax. Each one is pursuing their slice of the limited identity politics pie. All of them, including former Vice President Joe Biden, are committed to the social justice agenda. This is a losing strategy because identity politics…

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Rep. Rashida Tlaib Uses Historical Inaccuracy to Explain Why ‘the Tragedy of the Holocaust’ Gives Her ‘a Calming Feeling’

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by Molly Prince   Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib revealed on Saturday that when she envisions the Holocaust she gets a “calming feeling” because her Palestinian ancestors provided a “safe haven” for some Jewish people. “There’s always kind of a calming feeling I tell folks when I think of the Holocaust, and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors, Palestinians, who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways, have been wiped out, and some people’s passports,” Tlaib said on the “Skullduggery” podcast. The episode was titled “From Rashida with Love.” “And just all of it was in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post-the Holocaust, post-the tragedy and the horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time,” Tlaib continued. “I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that, right, in many ways. But they did it in a way that took their human dignity away and it was forced on them.” However, the Arab nations did not provide a “safe haven” for the Jew people during or after the Holocaust, where six million…

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New NBC Drama Wants Tennessee to Hand Over Corporate Welfare

Chris Butler

  NBC has greenlit a new TV drama set in Memphis, and if certain people have their way Tennessee would give the show’s creators corporate welfare. As reported, Bluff City Law is the title, and producers want state incentives similar to what state officials gave the ABC and CMT drama Nashville. The show is about a father-daughter Memphis legal team who practice civil rights law. Jimmy Smits stars. Bluff City Law recently filmed its pilot in Memphis. The Memphis-based WMC Action News 5 reported the show will only continue to film on location if it gets those incentives. Producers have requested $10 million in incentives, the station reported. “But legislators wrapped up the budget session without earmarking specific funds for Bluff City Law, allocating only $4 million for statewide film and TV projects, despite support from Memphis lawmakers in both chambers,” according to the station. State Sen. Raumesh Akbrari, D-Memphis, reportedly told the station she wants the show filmed in Memphis for authenticity’s sake. A letter-writing and call-in campaign is planned to encourage Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee to find $10 million in the state budget to have the show film on location, WMC Action News 5 reported. According to The Memphis…

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Obama White House Tracked FOIA Request for Hillary Emails that Was Improperly Denied

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by Chuck Ross   The Obama White House kept tabs on a Freedom of Information Act request for information on former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton’s email accounts that the State Department improperly denied, according to newly released emails. The emails, which were provided to Judicial Watch, show for the first time that the Obama White House was aware of the Clinton-related FOIA request, which the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) submitted to the State Department in December 2012. The State Department denied the request in May 2013, claiming that no responsive records existed. That despite officials at the State Department, the White House, and even President Obama himself knowing that Clinton used a personal email account for government business. The State Department’s inspector general determined in a report released on Jan. 7, 2016 that the State Department’s denial of the CREW request was “inaccurate and incomplete.” It is not clear from the emails why the White House was interested in the request. But Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton has a theory. “These documents suggest the Obama White House knew about the Clinton email lies being told to the public at least as early…

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Meet with Putin, Lavrov Amid Tensions

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  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week, as the two countries clash over a number of issues including Venezuela, Iran, and Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Pompeo heads to Moscow Sunday, in his first visit to Russia as chief U.S. diplomat. Top U.S. officials, including Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence, have accused Russia of working against Venezuela’s democratically elected opposition leader Juan Guaido in his attempts to oust embattled President Nicolas Maduro. The United States accuses Russia of seeking a foothold in the Western Hemisphere through Venezuela. “We are concerned about Russia’s actions in Venezuela, and we think the support for Maduro is a losing bet.So our support to the Venezuelan people continues, and that will be a subject for the discussion,” a senior State Department official told reporters last week. Pompeo arrives in Russia on Monday to meet with American diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow before meeting with U.S. business leaders.He will also lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in honor of those who fought against the Nazi regime. The secretary of state will then travel to…

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Commentary: The ‘Linda Problem’ and Why Democratic Socialists Flunk Logic 101

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by Barry Brownstein   Consider the following facts: Venezuela is a country with vast natural resources. Once it was one of the wealthiest countries in South America. Venezuela nationalized many vital industries such as oil. Price controls were instituted, and hyperinflation destroyed savings. Supermarket shelves emptied, and some even killed zoo animals for food. Malnutrition, even starvation, is common. Essential medicines, such as antibiotics, are unavailable. The ruthless despot who runs the country has stolen billions. He gives long speeches filled with socialist slogans and claims American interference, not socialism, has caused the failures of his regime. Which alternative is most likely? Venezuela is a failed socialist regime. Venezuela is a failed socialist regime, and the US caused its failure. No matter how you feel about US foreign policy, this is a question in pure logic. The question I posed is a variation on Nobel laureate in economics Daniel Kahneman’s famous Linda problem. Despite what many think, it is impossible for a conjunction of two events to be more likely than one event alone. The Linda Problem in Venezuela Democratic socialist-leaning Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is sure that if Venezuela has failed, it is not the fault of socialism. Appearing on the television…

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Commentary: #NeverTrump GOP Senators Messing with Donald Trump Jr.

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by George Rasley   Just when you thought that #NeverTrump Republicans in the Senate might, just might be ready to “move on” as Majority Leader McConnell put it, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (an alleged Republican) has subpoenaed the President’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr to testify on matters related to the Mueller investigation. The Don Jr has already testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee in December of 2017, as part of their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. And the Mueller report made no recommendations against him. But Burr, not generally thought of the sharpest knife in the Senate’s GOP drawer, apparently decided to give the Democrats, including his odious Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA), one more opportunity to grandstand for the cameras and to set a perjury trap for Don Jr. According to ABC News, a source close to Don Jr. said there was an agreement between the president’s son and the committee that he would only have to come in and testify once as long as he was willing to stay for as long as they’d like, which the source said he did, having stayed with the panel for more than nine hours back…

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US-Seized North Korean Ship Arrives in American Samoa

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  A North Korean cargo ship seized by the U.S. because of suspicions it was used to violate international sanctions arrived Saturday at the capital of this American territory. The Wise Honest was slowly towed to the port of Pago Pago Saturday morning and docked at the main docking section of the port that afternoon. The trip from Indonesia took about three weeks, and American Samoa, in the South Pacific, was chosen because of “its central strategic location,” U.S. Coast Guard public affairs officer Amanda Wyrick said. “We also have a good strong relationship and partnership with the American Samoan government,” Wyrick said. “With that being said, we also already have the resources that are able to ensure the security of the vessel but most importantly the Port of Pago Pago.” Detained near Indonesia The ship was detained in April as it traveled toward Indonesia. Justice Department officials announced Thursday that the U.S. had seized the ship. Asked as to how long the ship will be in the territory, Wyrick said the U.S. Department of Justice is “leading the investigation so they will be conducting that. Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the ship will be moved.” But the next…

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Analysis: The Steele Dossier and the ‘Raw Intelligence’ Canard

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by Chuck Ross   Defenders of the FBI’s activities during the 2016 campaign have adopted a familiar refrain over the past 28 months to describe the Steele dossier, that infamous document that served as a road map for the conspiracy theory that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government. “It’s raw intelligence,” according to countless politicos and pundits, including CNN contributor Asha Rangappa, Democratic Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, former CIA executive John Sipher and numerous other commentators. The spy term, which describes information directly from a source that has not been fully analyzed, is intended to downplay the dossier’s significance to the collusion narrative. Christopher Steele, the dossier author, gathered his intelligence from a trusted network of sources, the argument goes, and provided it to seasoned investigators to analyze. But the charitable defense faces new challenges, especially in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report. The problem with the “raw intelligence” canard is that it ignores questions about how Steele obtained his information and what the former spy did with it once he received it. The FBI also treated Steele’s allegations as more than mere raw intelligence. The bureau relied heavily on Steele’s work, even though it was unverified, to obtain spy…

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Vice President Pence Calls for Omar to be Removed from House Foreign Affairs Committee

Anthony Gockowski

  Vice President Mike Pence said during his visit to Minnesota last week that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) has “no place” on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In early April, the GOP pushed for Omar’s removal from the Foreign Affairs Committee in response to her description of the 9/11 terror attacks as “some people did something.” Pence was in Minnesota Thursday to urge Congress to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and spoke with Fox News about Omar’s comments. “Look, Ilhan Omar has made statements, anti-Semitic comments, statements against our most cherished ally, Israel, that ought to be rejected by every American,” Pence said. “And frankly, the fact that very recently she’s been trying to blame the United States of America for the deprivation and the poverty brought on by the dictatorship in Venezuela, it tells me—look, the people of Minnesota will decide whether or not she remains in Congress, but Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has no place on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Democratic leadership ought to remove her,” he continued. Pence recently criticized Omar for her comments on the political situation in Venezuela. Omar said in early May that America has “helped lead the devastation in Venezuela.”…

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Michigan, Ohio Republicans Ask Supremes to Put Gerrymandering Rulings on Hold

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by Kevin Daley   Republican lawmakers in Michigan and Ohio asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block lower court decisions ordering them to produce new district lines for their congressional and state legislative maps. Separate three-judge panels found the Michigan and Ohio maps were rigged to favor of Republicans, in violation of the Constitution. Both applications were presented to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who reviews emergency applications arising from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Michigan and Ohio. Sotomayor may ask both sides to submit further briefs, refer the matters to the full Court for consideration, or both. The applications come as the Supreme Court is considering related challenges from Maryland and North Carolina, which ask whether and how federal courts should police partisan gerrymandering. Decisions in those cases will bear directly on the Michigan and Ohio disputes, since all four matters present similar issues. In the Ohio case, the lower court ordered the state to produce a new map by June 14. There is a good chance the Maryland and North Carolina disputes will not be decided at that time. Ohio Republicans said that could cause ordinary people to conclude that the lower court is trying to impose a new map on…

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Vetoes Bill Barring Straw Bans

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by John Haughey   Gov. Ron DeSantis cited a need for judicial restraint in January when he appointed three new Florida Supreme Court justices he said would strictly adhere to the state constitution and statutes as they are written. DeSantis has now revealed he also has a dim view of legislative activism, issuing the first veto of his tenure in Tallahassee by rejecting a bill prohibiting local governments from banning single-use straws. House Bill 711, passed by House 87-23 on April 25 and by the Senate, 24-15, four days later, would impose a five-year suspension of local bans of plastic straws. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Toby Overdorf, R-Stuart, originally addressed recycling issues but later amendments attached the moratorium on straw bans, a proposal included in several of the 50-plus state preemption bills filed during the recently concluded session, including HB 1299, sponsored by Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myer, the so-called “Governmental Powers Preemption Train,” that died in committee. “A number of Florida municipalities, including Sanibel, Fort Myers Beach and Miami Beach, have enacted ordinances prohibiting single-use plastic straws,” DeSantis wrote in a veto message released Friday night. “These measures have not, as far as I can tell, frustrated any…

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Federal Judge Calls Motion to Have Lake Erie Named as Party in Lawsuit ‘Unusual’ and ‘Meritless’

Anthony Gockowski

  A federal judge in Ohio has dismissed a motion to name Lake Erie, a body of water, as a party in an ongoing lawsuit, calling the request “unusual” and “meritless.” As The Ohio Star previously reported, Toledo voters overwhelming approved of the controversial Lake Erie Bill of Rights in February, a ballot proposition that extended legal rights of the Ohio Constitution to an inanimate object. In response to its passage, Wood County farmer Mark Drewes filed suit, saying the Lake Erie Bill of Rights “violates federal constitutional rights, including equal protection, freedom of speech, and is unenforceable for its vagueness.” In that lawsuit, a nonprofit called Toledoans for Safe Water sought to have Lake Erie named as a party in the case, but U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary ruled against the motion last week. “This unusual request is meritless. The only source of domestic law cited in the motion supporting the ecosystem’s capacity to intervene is the amendment itself,” he wrote in his ruling, referring to the Lake Erie Bill of Rights. “The amendment, however, does not purport to allow intervention by the ecosystem in federal district courts,” he continued. “Some may believe the law should confer legal standing…

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EXCLUSIVE: Cade Cothren Denies Any Listening Devices Planted in Legislative Offices

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  Despite recent claims by a handful of legislators, allegations by some news media outlets, and a recent letter from the Tennessee Democratic House Caucus to the U.S. Attorney in Nashville requesting an investigation into “bugs” being planted in the offices of Tennessee legislators, there is no evidence that there is any truth to the stories. Now, the former Chief of Staff for House Speaker Glen Casada, Cade Cothren, specifically denies that any such thing has happened. “I have absolutely not been involved in planting any listening devices in any legislative offices,” Cothren told The Tennessee Star, “nor do I believe it has even happened. I know for a fact that nobody in the Speakers office did any such thing,” Cothren pointed out that there is not a shred of evidence to support the outlandish claims, and that any legitimate investigation will quickly put this particular lie to rest. “The fact that the media is running with a story without any substance or proof demonstrates how the current media feeding frenzy is completely out of control,” Cothren added. Cothren also specifically denied that he listened in on meetings in Legislative committee rooms after Committee Hearings ended. “Not only did I…

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