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Saturday, April 6, 2013
Obama Apologizes for Objectifying Female CA Attorney General
President Obama created a miniature firestorm Thursday, April 4, by
being gauche enough to have called California Attorney General Kamala
Harris the "best-looking attorney general" in the country. Not long
afterward, the President was forced to apologize for the "sexist"
remark.
Obama made the comment at a luncheon event held at the home of Levi Strauss heir John Goldman, where he introduced AG Harris
with a list of compliments before ending with, "She also happens to be
by far the best-looking attorney general in the country."
As soon as the media reported the President's comments, the lefty outrage machine kicked into high gear. Vanity Fair called Obama's comments "Sexual Harris-ment?"
After others from the lefty blogosphere also attacked the President, he
sent out his spokesman, Press Secretary Jay Carney, to issue a hasty
apology.
The next day, Carney said that the President "did not want to in any way diminish the attorney general's accomplishments and her capabilities."
Carney assured the press that Obama thinks that women "should not be judged based on appearance."
At least one person, though, is likely happy that the President made this "gaffe."
The same day the President made his comment about AG Harris, First
Lady Michelle Obama was telling a Vermont CBS TV affiliate that she was a
"single mother."
In a discussion about her family obligations and her work load, Mrs.
Obama blundered saying, "Believe me, as a busy single mother--or, I
shouldn’t say single, as a busy mother..."
The First Lady may be relieved that good-looking-gate took the pressure off her own, more unusual gaffe.
An Extreme Position on Extremism
DoD presentation classifies Catholics, evangelicals as religious extremists
The Defense Department came under fire Thursday for a U.S. Army
Reserve presentation that classified Catholics and Evangelical
Protestants as “extremist” religious groups alongside al Qaeda and the
Ku Klux Klan.
The presentation
detailed a number of extremist threats within the U.S. military,
including white supremacist groups, street gangs, and religious sects.
The presentation identified seventeen religious organizations in a
slide titled “religious extremism.” They include al Qaeda, Hamas, the
Filipino separatist group Abu Sayyaf, and the Ku Klux Klan, which the
slide identifies as a Christian organization.
“Religious extremism is not limited to any single religion, ethnic
group, or region of the world,” the slide explains, in language that
closely resembles the text of a Wikipedia page on “extremism.”
While outfits such as al Qaeda and the KKK are explicitly violent,
the presentation also lists Catholicism and evangelical Protestantism as
extremist groups.
Screenshot from DoD presentation
More than half of all Americans identify themselves as members of those two Christian denominations. National Public Radio reported in 2005 that 40 percent of active duty military personnel were evangelical Christians.
“Men and women of faith who have served the Army faithfully for
centuries shouldn’t be likened to those who have regularly threatened
the peace and security of the United States,” said Col. Ron Crews, a
retired Army chaplain and the executive director of the Chaplain
Alliance for Religious Liberty.
“It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to allow this type of wrongheaded characterization,” Crews said in a news release.
Crews also criticized the presentation for citing the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center to support its findings.
The SPLC has dubbed organizations “hate groups” for promoting Christian teachings on morality and sexuality.
A SPLC map of “hate groups” was used by a gunman
in 2012 to target the conservative Family Research Council for its
position on gay marriage. The gunman shot a security guard at the FRC’s
headquarters. The SPLC has refused to comment on its role in the shooting.
The Archdiocese for the Military Services, a Catholic organization
that trains and endorses military priests and chaplains, said in a release
that it was “astounded that Catholics were listed alongside groups that
are, by their very mission and nature, violent and extremist.”
The AMS called on the Pentagon “to review these materials and to
ensure that tax-payer funds are never again used to present blatantly
anti-religious material to the men and women in uniform.”
An Army spokesperson said the presentation “was produced by an
individual without anyone in the chain of command’s knowledge or
permission.” The Army removed the offending slide after receiving
complaints.
The person responsible for the presentation, the spokesperson said,
“was not a subject matter expert, and produced the material after
conducting Internet research.”
President Barack Obama is scheduled to posthumously award the
Congressional Medal of Honor next week to Catholic Army Chaplain Emil
Kapaun, who died in a North Korean military prison in 1951.
“It is hard to understand how a priest like Chaplain Kapaun can be
honored in one breath while his faith-group is dishonored in another,”
Crews said.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s threat to filibuster any new gun
restrictions is gathering steam, as a dozen of his Republican colleagues
have now signed onto his plan.
The Kentucky Republican and Sens.
Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) first wrote to Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid late last month to warn him of their intention to try
to tie up the Senate if, as planned, Reid moved forward with legislation
that would expand background checks and attempt to crack down on
interstate gun trafficking. Continue Reading
Reid is expected to bring a gun-control bill to the
floor as early as next week, or perhaps the following week, and Paul is
renewing his vow to try to block the measure. Paul’s follow-up letter,
obtained by POLITICO, bears Monday’s date and is signed by 13
Republicans, including fellow potential 2016 presidential aspirant Marco
Rubio (R-Fla.) — who signed on shortly after Paul’s first threat was
issued — and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Jerry
Moran of Kansas.
(Also on POLITICO: Obama's top-down grassroots army)
While Paul gained a new measure of fame among libertarian-minded
voters on the right and left during a recent filibuster sparked by the
administration’s policy of targeted drone strikes, Reid has an ace in
the hole. A new Senate rule would allow him to circumvent a filibuster
on the motion to proceed to the gun bill by promising each party two
amendments on the legislation. Under that scenario, Paul and his allies
would still get a chance to raise their objections on the floor for
hours on end, but they couldn’t stop the Senate from starting debate on
the bill.
Reid’s aides have discussed that option, but they haven’t yet said
that they’ll use it. Reid may be able to break a filibuster with
bipartisan support, which would obviate the need to do an end run around
Paul’s group. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has said he won’t support a
filibuster if Reid promises to allow for amendments on the floor.
In the letter due to be sent Monday, a carbon copy of the first
missive, Paul and his expanded group of allies reiterate that they
“intend to oppose any legislation that would infringe on the American
people’s constitutional right to bear arms, or their ability to exercise
this right without being subjected to government surveillance.”
(PHOTOS: Highlights from Rand Paul’s filibuster)
The Gun Owners of America, a small group that has risen in influence
because of its strict adherence to a pro-gun line, has pressured
senators and the National Rifle Association to back Paul, Cruz and Lee.
“If, you are an NRA member, contact them,” GOA wrote in an action
alert sent to its own members, some of whom are also in the NRA, on
April 1. “Urge them to join with us in supporting the Paul-Cruz-Lee
filibuster. That means they should tell senators to oppose the motion to
proceed to any gun control vehicle, and to oppose cloture on the motion
to proceed to any gun control vehicle.”
(Also on POLITICO: Dems reach out to Toomey on guns)
In addition to Paul, Lee, Cruz, Rubio and Moran, the Republican who
have signed the second letter are Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Richard Burr
of North Carolina, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Jim
Risch and Mike Crapo of Idaho, Dan Coats of Indiana and Pat Roberts of
Kansas.
“We will oppose the motion to proceed on any legislation that will
serve as a vehicle for any additional gun restrictions,” they write.
The last President to serve more than two terms was Franklin D.
Roosevelt. Roosevelt served three full terms as President and was
elected to a fourth term. Roosevelt died 83 days into his fourth term in
office.
Congress passed the Twenty-second Amendment on March 21, 1947. The required number of states ratified it in 1951.
Read more from this story HERE.
