Thoughts From A Conservative Mom

Posts Tagged ‘Media’

Holy cow! They illegally got phone records from CONGRESS??

That’s the claim made by Congressman Devin Nunes on the Hugh Hewitt Show:

HH: The idea that this might be a Geithner-Axelrod plan, and by that, the sort of intimation, Henry II style, will no one rid me of this turbulent priest, will no one rid me of these turbulent Tea Parties, that might have just been a hint, a shift of an eyebrow, a change in the tone of voice. That’s going to take a long time to get to. I don’t trust the Department of Justice on this. Do you, Congressman Nunes?

DN: No, I absolutely do not, especially after this wiretapping incident, essentially, of the House of Representative. I don’t think people are focusing on the right thing when they talk about going after the AP reporters. The big problem that I see is that they actually tapped right where I’m sitting right now, the Cloak Room.

HH: Wait a minute, this is news to me.

DN: The Cloak Room in the House of Representatives.

HH: I have no idea what you’re talking about.

DN: So when they went after the AP reporters, right? Went after all of their phone records, they went after the phone records, including right up here in the House Gallery, right up from where I’m sitting right now. So you have a real separation of powers issue that did this really rise to the level that you would have to get phone records that would, that would most likely include members of Congress, because as you know…

HH: Wow.

DN: …members of Congress talk to the press all the time.

HH: I did not know that, and that is a stunner.

DN: Now that is a separation of powers issue here, Hugh.

HH: Sure.

DN: And it’s a freedom of press issue. And now you’ve got the IRS going after people. So these things are starting to cascade one upon the other, and you have the White House pretending like they’re in the clouds like it’s not their issue somehow.

Read more at Hot Air

Nune backtracked the term “tapped” later, confirming that although phone records had been obtained, none of the lines were actually tapped:

The DOJ admitted to obtaining call records from a phone used by the AP in the House press gallery, which is … different from tapping a room used by congressmen to talk shop. How Nunes confused the two, I have no idea.  [...]

So he was sloppy in confusing obtaining phone records for wiretapping, and what he meant by the cloakroom is that, I guess, if a congressman in the room called up to an AP reporter in the press gallery, the DOJ would know about it from the gallery phone’s records.

Read more at Hot Air

The Washington Post confirmed that “The subpoenaed phones records included personal and office lines for several national security reporters and editors as well as “the main number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery.”

Either way, this is still a monumental abuse of power which serves to chill freedom of the press and intimidate potential sources and whistleblowers who might now think twice about speaking to the press.

Somebody better be going to jail over this.

Congressman: DOJ Seized House Press Gallery Phone Records

EXPOSED: Obama Justice Dept. Secretly Obtained Reporters’ Phone Records

The media finally discovers that their idol is actually a tyrant, after all, and they are not exempt from his abuses.

Erica Ritz reports at The Blaze:

The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into how news organizations gather the news.

[...]  The records obtained by the Justice Department listed incoming and outgoing calls, and the duration of each call, for the work and home phone numbers of individual reporters, general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and the main number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP.

In all, the government seized those records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP and its journalists in April and May of 2012. The exact number of journalists who used the phone lines during that period is unknown but more than 100 journalists work in the offices whose phone records were targeted on a wide array of stories about government and other matters.

In a letter of protest sent to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt said the government sought and obtained information far beyond anything that could be justified by any specific investigation. He demanded the return of the phone records and destruction of all copies.

Read more at The Blaze

Holder is now facing heated backlash from Democrats and the normally fawning liberal media.  Rich Lowry ironically observes that the media have discovered that they have more in common with the Tea Party and NRA than they’d like to admit:

Another brilliant column from National Review’s Rich Lowry at Politico. Lowry makes the indisputable point that the same media that have spent years attacking the Tea Party, and months savaging the NRA, are now revealing brazen hypocrisy when it comes to protecting their own rights. In spirit and goal, the media are now one with the Tea Party and NRA.

What animates the Tea Party and NRA is a legitimate concern that the government — especially under President Obama — has made a disturbing pivot from their Constitutional requirement to protect our liberties, to infringing upon our liberties. In turn, Obama and his media label us as anti-government crazies suffering from paranoid delusions.

But look at the reaction this week from that very same media in the wake of the Associated Press scandal. Suddenly the media don’t like Big Government doing to them what ObamaCare and background checks will do to the rest of us. Moreover, the very same media that suggest not trusting the government is a form of extremism, is now demanding a law be immediately passed to shield them from government intrusion.

Read more at Breitbart

Matt Drudge warns:

Warning to reporters and sources: Assume all your communications are being monitored. Time to move back to the parking garage #longhotsummer

— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) May 13, 2013

Nixonian: Obama Regime Seizes AP Reporters’ Phone Records For Over 20 Separate Lines, More Than 100 Journalists Affected

Irony: Obama Hailed ‘World Press Freedom Day’ As His DOJ Was Seizing AP Phone Records

Judge Napolitano Tears Apart Eric Holder And DOJ For ‘Profound And Direct Assault On First Amendment’

AP: Holder Approved Subpoenas of Phone Records

Congressman: Holder May Have Broken Law In AP Scandal

Rep. Gohmert on AP Scandal: ‘When There Is a Tyrannical Despot the Media Will Be One of the Early Victims’

Obama: ‘Complete Confidence’ in Holder’s ‘Integrity’ after AP Scandal

The dam has broken, the curtain has been lifted, and the flood of scandals coming to light this week is finally beginning to open people’s eyes.

1. Benghazi.  Four Americans were abandoned to die in the middle of a terrorist attack.  In the aftermath the administration changed the talking points, lied about a stupid video being to blame, and spent months trying to hide the truth as they intimidated and blocked access to witnesses.

2.  The IRS admits to targeting Tea Party groups.  It turns out they were also targeting pro-life groups, pro-Israel groups, religious groups, and pretty much anybody who dared to criticize Obama’s policies.   They were also leaking confidential information about the opposition to their political friends.

3.  The Department of Justice secretly obtained months of phone records from over 100 AP reporters and sources, including Congress.   Guess the Obama administration likes to keep a jealous eye on his favorite mistress.

4. HHS Secretary shakes down companies she regulates for “donations” to implement Obamacare.   It’s the Chicago way.

5. The EPA applies a double standard when dealing with conservative vs. liberal groups.   If you’re “green,” you’re clean.  If you oppose EPA power grabs and agenda, you’re treated as an enemy.

Lest we forget, there is also Sestak, Solyndra, Pigford, and Fast & Furious.

So how is Obama trying to squirm his way out of trouble?

One unique excuse being offered by David Axelrod is that the government is simply too big for Obama to know what’s going on.  Yes,  you heard that right…the liberals’ favorite argument that more government is the solution to every problem has suddenly turned into an excuse for ruling class ignorance and incompetence.

Another approach has been to claim that Obama is simply a passive and aloof leader who tends to distance himself from the nitty gritties of governing, and therefore has no clue what his underlings are up to.

Obama’s consistent claim that he always finds out about these scandals the same way that we do – when they first appear on the news – has become such a running joke that even Jon Stewart tore into him over the absurdity of it all.

Whoever created this meme summed it up beautifully:

Yep.  That’s their story and they’re sticking to it.

Scandal-Ridden Obama: Republicans Are Making Americans “Cynical About Government”

Obama Scandal Scorecard

A Quick Guide to the Four Major Scandals that May Bring Down the Obama Administration

And Then There Were Five Obama Scandals…?

Scandals Here, There and Everywhere

What we know Obama doesn’t know grows daily

What does the scandal cascade teach us about trust in government power?

During a press conference outdoors with the Turkish Prime Minister, Obama ordered the Marines to break protocol and hold umbrellas over their heads as it rained, remarking “They’re gonna look good next to us.”

What a pompous elitist!   The Marines are not house slaves for the ruling class.  They are not “photo ops.”  They are heroes who are sworn to protect and defend.  If Obama wants someone to bow and apologize to, he should start with the marine on his left.

The Twitterverse exploded with biting commentary on this one:

Funny how quickly Obama got the Marines there when he was getting wet. Our men in Benghazi waited 8 hours for Obama to call in the Marines.

— Sunny (@sunnyright) May 16, 2013

Iowahawk tweeted:

Obama vehemently denies abusing government power, while telling a US Marine to hold his umbrella. #CantMakeThisShitUp

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) May 16, 2013

Obama Calls Over Marines to Shield Himself and Turkish PM from Rain

Egomaniac-in-Chief: Troops Are Fighting On ‘My Behalf’

Obama Steps on Fallen Heroes’ Dead Bodies for Personal Gain

Obama’s Gaffe Reveals Callous Contempt for Our Soldiers

Obama’s dismal track record with our military

Nice health care company you’ve got there…would be a pity if anything happened to it.

Welcome to pay-to-play health care.  It’s the Chicago way.

Sarah Kliff reports at the Washington Post:

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has gone, hat in hand, to health industry officials, asking them to make large financial donations to help with the effort to implement President Obama’s landmark health-care law, two people familiar with the outreach said.

Her unusual fundraising push comes after Congress repeatedly rejected the Obama administration’s requests for additional funds to set up the Affordable Care Act, leaving HHS to implement the president’s signature legislative accomplishment on what officials have described as a shoestring budget.

Over the past three months, Sebelius has made multiple phone calls to health industry executives, community organizations and church groups and asked that they contribute whatever they can to nonprofit groups that are working to enroll uninsured Americans and increase awareness of the law, according to an HHS official and an industry person familiar with the secretary’s activities. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk openly about private discussions.

[...]  Federal regulations do not allow department officials to fundraise in their professional capacity. They do, however, allow Cabinet members to solicit donations as private citizens “if you do not solicit funds from a subordinate or from someone who has or seeks business with the Department, and you do not use your official title,” according to Justice Department regulations.

Read more at the Washington Post

Guy Benson observes:

This has all the hallmarks of a shakedown.  DrewM at Ace of Spades snarkily summarizes: “Hi I’m HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. You may recall I have tremendous discretionary power over your company and entire industry. Would you like to donate to my favorite cause? You would? Thank you so much.”  Obamacare vests Sebelius with an enormous amount of regulatory power; she has the ability to make life exceedingly difficult for any company that crosses her (recall her “zero tolerance” quote).  “Friendly” requests for “voluntary” donations may not seem optional for companies who sense the HHS Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.   [...]

Harry Reid recently grumbled about Republicans’ refusal to pump more taxpayer money into Obamacare’s implementation phase.  The GOP has stood firm against committing even one more penny to the extravagantly expensive, enduringly unpopular and logistically shambolic program.  The administration’s apparent solution to this problem of their own making is to coerce private businesses into financing a bailout.

Read more at Townhall

Senator McConnell argues:

“That’s absolutely improper if not illegal. This administration will stop at nothing to get its way. It will do anything it can to silence its critics.”

Read more at Breitbart

Now begins the investigation into yet another Obama administration scandal:

House Republicans are starting a probe into Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius soliciting donations from companies her agency might regulate, to help sign up uninsured Americans for ObamaCare.

[T]he solicitations, through speeches and phone calls, have raised questions about whether a federal official can ask for money from groups he or she oversees.

The Republican-led House Energy and Commerce Committee began a probe by sending a letter Monday to Sebelius and groups that she might have contacted.

The letter to Sebelius asks her to provide several pieces of information by May 27 related to the solicitations, including names of those contacted “in this unusual fundraising pitch” as well as phone logs and whether other agency officials were involved.

Read more at Fox News

Committee Investigating HHS For Illegally Soliciting Funds

Sebelius Shakes Down Companies She Regulates for Cash to Implement ObamaCare

Sebelius Under Fire for ObamaCare Fundraising Bypassing Congress

GOP probing Sebelius’s fundraising push: “Clear appearance of a conflict of interest”

Lamar Alexander: Sebelius fundraising ‘arguably an even bigger issue’ than Iran-Contra

HHS Sticks Taxpayers With $20 Million Bill For Propaganda Promoting Obamacare

It’s all in the family.

James Simpson reports at the Examiner:

1973: reporters investigate All the President’s Men. 2013: reporters are All the President’s Men.

You knew the mainstream media was biased, but this is incredible. It was revealed todaythat CBS News President David Rhodes’ brother is Obama Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, who was instrumental in rewriting the Benghazi talking points. But it gets worse. It is now learned that ABC President Ben Sherwood’s sister, Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, is a Special Assistant to Barack Obama on national security affairs. But even this isn’t it! CNN’s deputy bureau chief, Virginia Moseley, is the wife of Tom Nides, who until February was Hillary Clinton’s deputy.

Read more at the Examiner

It doesn’t stop there, either.  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney is married to Claire Shipman, who works for ABC News.

Could it be that Obama appointed relatives of the press to his administration in order to make the media more reluctant to damage it with accurate reporting?

Could it be that the lack of reporting on Benghazi and other scandals – especially prior to the election – had something to do with this?

Presidents of ABC and CBS News Have Siblings Working at White House With Ties to Benghazi

Top Obama official’s brother is president of CBS News, may drop reporter over Benghazi coverage

Exposed: Media Matters Collaborated With Obama White House and News Organizations, Made Enemies List Of ‘Preliminary Targets’

Exposed: White House Threatens Reporters Who Dare To Challenge Him

Media: Actually, This White House Threatens Us All The Time

White House notches up war on ‘unfavorable press’

Unreal! Late-term abortionist Leroy Carhart was caught on tape describing the grisly abortion procedure and lying to women about the dangers:

View on YouTube

John Hayward gives a chilling overview of the content:

The fourth undercover video in LiveAction’s “Inhuman” expose of late-term abortion brings us renowned abortionist Dr. LeRoy Carhart reassuring a pregnant woman that carrying a dead 26-week baby inside her womb for three days is no big deal.  ”It’s like putting meat in a Crock-Pot, OK?” he says.

Carhart also jokes that his tools for dismembering and removing a dead child include “a pickaxe” and “a drill bit.”  When advising the woman to allow nothing into her vagina for three weeks after the procedure, he says, “As I tell everyone, that includes fingers, friends, and fruit, OK?”

The famed abortionist begins telling his patient that she’ll be affected emotionally and psychologically by the procedure… but then he tries to portray it as a positive life experience, dismissing the notion of post-abortion depression.  [...]

Like other late-term abortion doctors and clinic staffers profiled in the “Inhuman” series, Carhart frantically instructs his prospective patient not to call 911 if she goes into labor during the procedure, because “they’ll take you to the hospital, right?  They won’t bring you to the clinic, so…”

Instead, he advises her to get in a car and drive to the clinic, or call him.  And this later segment of the video was made 7 weeks after Jennifer Morbelli’s death.  Put that in your Crock-Pot and slow-cook it.

Read more a Human Events

Undercover Video Exposes Dark Underworld Of Late-Term Abortions

Infanticide in America: it’s real, and it’s happening more often than you think

Abortion’s Underside: Kermit Gosnell is not the only seedy backroom abortionist operating in the age of Roe v. Wade

Planned Parenthood Argues For ‘Right’ To Murder Infants Already Born

Obama’s Twisted, Symbiotic Relationship With the Abortion Industry

Recently, the Pentagon hired a rabid, anti-Christian fanatic to advice them on how to make the military more “tolerant.”    His first recommendation has been to court-martial Christians who dare to share their faith with another service member.

Ken Klukowski reports at Breitbart:

“Today, we face incredibly well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation’s armed forces.”

Those words were recently written by Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), in a column he wrote for the Huffington Post. Weinstein will be a consultant to the Pentagon to develop new policies on religious tolerance, including a policy for court-martialing military chaplains who share the Christian Gospel during spiritual counseling of American troops.

[...]   Many media outlets are silent on this disturbing new alliance between fanatical secularists and leaders in the Pentagon appointed by President Barack Obama and Secretary Chuck Hagel, under which the U.S. military would officially consult with someone with such foaming-at-the-mouth passionate hostility toward traditional Christians, including Evangelicals and devout Catholics. The military—America’s most heroic and noble institution—includes countless people of faith, and this represents a radical departure from the U.S. military’s warm embrace of people of faith in its ranks.

Yet the little coverage this story is getting is positive, such as thisWashington Post column that somehow manages not to carry any of these frightening quotes from Weinstein and instead actually endorses the Pentagon’s meeting with him. Sally Quinn’s Postcolumn also approvingly quotes MRFF Advisory Board member Larry Wilkerson as saying, “Sexual assault and proselytizing, according to Wilkerson, ‘are absolutely destructive of the bonds that keep soldiers together.’”

Did you get that? They say having someone share the Christian gospel with you is akin to being raped. Weinstein makes sure there are no doubts, being quoted by the Post as adding, “This is a national security threat. What is happening [aside from sexual assault] is spiritual rape. And what the Pentagon needs is to understand is that it is sedition and treason. It should be punished.”

Read more at Breitbart

Now, it appears that the military is preparing to court-martial anyone who tries to share the Good News:

The Pentagon has released a statement confirming that soldiers could be prosecuted for promoting their faith: “Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense…Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis…”.

The statement, released to Fox News, follows a Breitbart News report on Obama administration Pentagon appointees meeting with anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein to develop court-martial procedures to punish Christians in the military who express or share their faith.

This regulation would severely limit expressions of faith in the military, even on a one-to-one basis between close friends. It could also effectively abolish the position of chaplain in the military, as it would not allow chaplains (or any service members, for that matter), to say anything about their faith that others say led them to think they were being encouraged to make faith part of their life. It’s difficult to imagine how a member of the clergy could give spiritual counseling without saying anything that might be perceived in that fashion.

Read more at Breitbart

Ironic that the very men and women who volunteered to defend liberty are now watching their most basic, unalienable rights being stripped away, all in the name of “tolerance.”   Is this what they fought for?

Sign the Petition to Protect Religious Freedom in the Military

Pentagon Recruits Anti-Christian Extremist To Help Craft Tolerance Policy

Religious Groups Fear Christian Purge From Military

Secular Crusader Advises Pentagon: Christians are ‘Monsters.’

Religious Freedom in Our Military: This Is What Intolerance Smells Like

Pentagon: Religious Proselytizing is Not Permitted

Rear admiral vows to continue sharing fait

Army Labels Christians as Religious Extremists, Potential Terrorists

Doesn’t surprise me one bit.

James Rosen reports at Fox News:

At least four career officials at the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency have retained lawyers or are in the process of doing so, as they prepare to provide sensitive information about the Benghazi attacks to Congress, Fox News has learned.

Victoria Toensing, a former Justice Department official and Republican counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, is now representing one of the State Department employees. She told Fox News her client and some of the others, who consider themselves whistle-blowers, have been threatened by unnamed Obama administration officials.

“I’m not talking generally, I’m talking specifically about Benghazi – that people have been threatened,” Toensing said in an interview Monday. “And not just the State Department. People have been threatened at the CIA.”

Read more at Fox News

Obama denies that anyone has been threatened to keep them silent:

President Obama on Tuesday said he is unaware that anyone has been blocked from testifying on the deadly Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

“There are people in your own State Department saying they have been blocked from coming forward,” said Fox News’ Ed Henry, “that they survived the terror attack and they want to tell their story.”

He is referring to recent reports that at least four officials at the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency have been warned by unnamed Obama administration officials about testifying on the Benghazi terror attacks.

“Will you help them come forward and say it once and for all?” Henry asked.

“Ed,” the president responded. “I’m not familiar with this notion that anybody has been blocked from testifying. What I’ll do is I’ll find out what, exactly, you’re referring to.”

Read more at The Blaze

Where have we heard this tune before?

“I am not a crook.” ~ Richard Nixon

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” ~ Bill Clinton

“I’m not familiar with this notion that anybody has been blocked from testifying.” ~ Barack Obama

Issa: President’s Remarks Only Help To Intimidate Benghazi Witnesses

Grieving Benghazi Mom Seeks Answers, Obama Admin. Tells Her To ‘Shut Up,’ Says She’s ‘Causing Problems’

GOP lawmakers: Obama administration blocking access to Benghazi survivors

Shocker: Obama Lied When He Said “Not Familiar” With Accusations His Admin Was Intimidating Benghazi Witnesses

HUGE: Benghazi whistleblower says admin is lying, multiple assets could have aided our guys by 2nd attack

Networks Ignore Libya Whistleblower Who Asserts: We Know Who Perpetrated Benghazi

Graham, McCain Call for Senate Select Committee on Benghazi after Intimidation Reports

State: Our Benghazi probe ‘should be enough’ for Congress

Think Kermit Gosnell‘s barbaric practices are rare? Think again.

Live Action goes undercover to expose the barbaric reality of late-term abortions in the United States.

In this first video, a 23-week pregnant woman is told how her baby will be placed in a toxic solution to drown if he/she is born alive, and advised to “flush it” down the toilet if she happens to accidentally deliver at home:

View on YouTube

In the second video, a doctor explains how he tries to sever the umbilical cord to kill the baby in utero, then admits that he is legally obligated to help the baby if it happens to survive the abortion, but would allow him/her to suffocate instead:

View on YouTube

Lila Rose, founder of Live Action, spoke to Bill O’Reilly about the inhumanity that the abortion culture has led us to:

View on YouTube

Are there more abortion doctors like Kermit Gosnell? And do we want to know?

Late-term abortionist: saving infants born alive ‘the stupidest thing they could have done’

Abortion Clinic Workers Refuse To Help Mother Screaming to Save Live Child

Media Ignores Trial Of Gruesome Serial Killer – Because He’s An Abortionist

Planned Parenthood Argues For ‘Right’ To Murder Infants Already Born

Lila Rose Debates Abortion Activist Defending Infanticide Videos

DC Abortion Doctor: Pro-Lifers With Video Cameras Are “Terrorists”

Abortion Clinics Caught On Tape Arranging Illegal Sex-Selection Abortions

Caught On Tape: Planned Parenthood Assisting with Underage Sex Trafficking

Planned Parenthood exposed: hiding child abuse, lying to patients

Planned Parenthood CAUGHT lying to clients, giving birth control to children

Investigation of medical lies and manipulation at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin

Try to contain your shock and amazement.

Stephen Dinan reports at The Washington Times:

House Republicans have concluded that the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies bear no blame for failing to halt the terrorist assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last year, releasing a report Tuesday that said President Obama and the State Department set up the military for failure.

The report also found that plenty of intelligence presaged the attack, but the White House and State Department — including the secretary at the time, Hillary Rodham Clinton — failed to heed the warnings.

In the most damning conclusion, House Republicans said Mr. Obama’s team lied about the attacks afterward, first by blaming mob violence spawned by an anti-Muslim video, and then wrongly saying it had misled the public because it was trying to protect an FBI investigation.

Read more at The Washington Times

Looks like lying under oath has become a Clinton family tradition.

The sad part is, she’ll never be held accountable for their deaths, and it probably won’t even be much of a speed bump for her campaign in 2016.

House Report: Hillary Clinton Lied, And Four In Benghazi Died

Sharyl Attkisson tweets House report; Reveals Hillary Clinton lied under oath about Benghazi; Update: WH altered talking points

House Report Blames Hillary For Cutting Security at Benghazi Consulate

NBC, ABC Ignore a Blistering House Report Placing Blame for Benghazi on Obama, Clinton

GOP lawmakers: Obama administration blocking access to Benghazi survivors

Grieving Benghazi Mom Seeks Answers, Obama Admin. Tells Her To ‘Shut Up,’ Says She’s ‘Causing Problems’

Bombshell: Obama Admin. Pulled Security Team From Libya in August, Denied Repeated Requests To Heighten Security Despite Multiplying Threats

Hillary When Questioned About White House Lies On Benghazi: ‘What Difference Does It Make?’

State Department Had No $$$ for Benghazi Security, Did Have $16 Mil for Kindles and $4.5 for Art

Sec. Clinton’s ‘Review Board’ Shocker: Says Nobody Should Be Held Responsible For Benghazi

Who Fed Susan Rice the Benghazi Bullhockey?

White House Changed CIA Talking Points

White House Blames CIA For Lies In Rice Talking Points, House Intel Chair Hits Back

Report: Panetta Lied, CIA Ops Were Denied Requests For Help Three Times During Benghazi Attack

Yesterday, the judge in the Gosnell trial dropped 3 murder charges against him:

The judge ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue the three first-degree murder charges against 72-year-old Gosnell, ABC reported.

[...]  ABC reports the judge didn’t immediately explain why there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue the three murder charges. The case against Gosnell appeared to suffer a setback last week when the chief medical examiner testified he couldn’t say for sure whether any of the fetuses found in Gosnell’s clinic were born alive.

Gosnell is accused of operating a filthy clinic, spreading venereal diseases by using dirty equipment and routinely killing newborns. The crux of his defense is that no babies were ever born alive in his clinic.

Read more at Business Insider

The “lack of evidence” they cite has to do with whether or not the babies were alive outside the womb before Gosnell killed them. As if biologically or ethically, the location matters! Inside or outside the womb, it’s STILL killing a live baby!  Our legal system is so messed up!

Today, the judge changed his mind about one of the charges:

The judge in the Kermit Gosnell murder trial admitted today he made an error when dropping one of the charges against the abortion practitioner.

Common pleas court Judge Jeffrey Minehart admitted he “erred” when dropping the murder charge for Baby C, who was killed in an abortion-infanticide when he was a victim of an attempted abortion but was born alive and tossed in a shoe box, with Gosnell staffers confirming they saw him breathing for 20 minutes.

Gosnell faces eight total murder counts — one for killing a woman in a botched abortion and seven for killing babies in abortion-infanticides that involved live-birth abortions and snipping their necks after birth. The judge received heavy criticism yesterday for dropping three of the murder charges.

Read more at Life News

Gosnell still facing 380 criminal charges, including five murder charges

Gosnell Worker: Baby Screamed During Live-Birth “Abortion”

Gosnell Trial Witness: Baby Abortion Survivor Was ‘Swimming’ in Toilet ‘Trying to Get Out’

Gosnell Worker: Baby “Jumped” When I Snipped Her Neck in Abortion

Worker at Gosnell Clinic: Baby’s Chest Moved After Neck Snipped

Abortionist Slit Necks of Born Babies in Front of Teenager; Told Assistant: ‘That’s What You Call a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off’

Nurses Share Stories of Witnessing Babies Born Alive After Abortions

‘This baby is alive!’: the heartbreaking story of Baby Hope

‘That’s not a baby. That’s an abortion!’: clinic workers describe babies born alive

‘This is so hard. Oh, God, it’s so hard!’: nurses tell of aborted babies born alive

Media Ignores Trial Of Gruesome Serial Killer – Because He’s An Abortionist

Mark Steyn: All atrocities are not created equal

Gay activists have been putting pressure on the Boy Scouts for years, but they finally started to get results when they targeted BSA’s large corporate donors and infiltrated the National Executive Committee with members willing to undermine the BSA from within.   Fearing losing their funding, the Boy Scouts have now partially caved to allow gay scouts, but not Troop Leaders.  It’s obvious that won’t be far behind.  The  wall has been officially breached, and the bullies of the gay lobby won’t be satisfied until they’ve been brought down completely.

Becket Adams reports at The Blaze:

If ever there was a week to quietly announce a major organizational change, this is it.

A spokesman with the Boy Scouts of America on Friday announced that the 103-year-old organization is set to lift its long-standing ban on openly gay youth members but will continue to exclude gays as adult leaders.

However, as Reuters notes, the group’s board “still has to vote in May on whether to ratify the resolution.”

If the vote goes through, “no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone,” Deron Smith, the organization’s spokesman, told Reuters.

Read more at The Blaze

Former Eagle Scout John Stemberger writes at the Washington Times:

Virtually every news story on this topic erroneously frames this issue as the Boy Scouts “bans gays” or “discriminates against gays.” This is simply not true. Contrary to what the media might report, the Boy Scouts do not discriminate against homosexuals. The BSA membership application does not even ask about sexual orientation.

[...]  The fact is that veterans of Scouting will tell you there are currently Scouts and adult leaders in uniform who have same-sex attractions and who are in good standing with the program. They are discreet, though; they are private, they are discerning, and most of all, they conduct themselves appropriately in front of other young boys. Further, there has never been a witch hunt in the BSA to find or remove its members with a same-sex attraction.

So if homosexuals are already allowed in Scouting, then what is the national controversy about?

The real issue is this: Homosexual-rights activists are not satisfied with membership in good standing and being allowed to fully participate like everyone else. They want to be able to openly promote homosexuality. They want to promote a gay-rights political agenda. They want to act out publicly and be “loud and proud.” They want to inappropriately inject sex and politics into the BSA program, where children as young as six years old are involved. Not on this dad’s watch. This behavior and open homosexual conduct is exactly what the current BSA policy prohibits, a prohibition that we as parents demand that the program reaffirm if it wants our continued support.

[...]  Former U.S. Rep. Richard T. Schulze, Pennsylvania Republican, a recipient of the rare Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, recently commented, “What kind of a message are we sending to our young people if the very leaders who are teaching Boy Scouts to be brave cannot even find the courage to stand firm and avoid caving in to peer pressure from Hollywood and political activists?”

I could not agree more.

Read more at the Washington Times

It’s sad that an institution which has taught boys to stand up for moral principles and against the tide of moral relativism has allowed themselves to be compromised for the sake of money.   That’s exactly what this boils down to – and it will destroy them.   They may keep their big donors, but thousands of churches and other charter organizations will simply dissolve their charters rather than risk the wrath of gay bullies and potential lawsuits.

The Enemy Within: The Homosexual Assault from within the Boy Scouts of America

The Scouts – a ‘jewel of American culture’ in jeopardy

Opposition to Boy Scouts’ compromise on gays grows on both sides of issue

Boy Scouts Consider Ending Ban on Gay Troop Leaders, Scouts

Say No to Girl Scout Cookies

Thanks to one of the bombing victims, the suspects were quickly identified, and their photos posted for a state-wide manhunt:

Minutes before the bombs blew up in Boston, Jeff Bauman looked into the eyes of the man who tried to kill him.

Just before 3 p.m. on April 15, Bauman was waiting among the crowd for his girlfriend to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon. A man wearing a cap, sunglasses and a black jacket over a hooded sweatshirt looked at Jeff, 27, and dropped a bag at his feet, his brother, Chris Bauman, said in an interview.

Two and a half minutes later, the bag exploded, tearing Jeff’s legs apart. A picture of him in a wheelchair, bloodied and ashen, was broadcast around the world as he was rushed to Boston Medical Center. He lost both legs below the knee.

“He woke up under so much drugs, asked for a paper and pen and wrote, ‘bag, saw the guy, looked right at me,’” Chris Bauman said yesterday in an interview.

Those words may have helped crack the mystery of who perpetrated one of the highest-profile acts of terror in the U.S. since the 2001 assault on New York City and the Washington area, one that killed three people and wounded scores.

Read more at Bloomberg Businessweek

They were identified as two Muslim brothers of Chechnyan origin.  Chechnya is known as a hotbed of Islamic terrorism:

[C]ongressional researchers and foreign policy analysts have long tracked a connection between the Chechnya region and Islamic extremists sympathizing with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. If the suspects are indeed Chechen, analysts told Fox News they may represent part of a jihadi network which has made its way to American soil.

“The Chechen jihadi network is very extensive,” Middle East analyst Walid Phares said Friday. “They have a huge network inside Russia and Chechnya.”

Read more at Fox News

The older brother, 26, was killed in a shoot-out with police on Thursday night, after killing a police officer.   The younger brother was finally taken into custody on Friday night, after the entire city of Boston and outlying areas had been on lock-down for most of the day in search of him.

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour admitted that she had “hoped beyond hope” that the perpetrators were right-wing extremists instead of Muslim radicals.   But alas, her fellow Americans remain innocent.

She wasn’t the only media back who was openly hoping it was a white “right winger,” because that would fit the narrative they’re trying to use to smear good, decent American citizens who happen to disagree with them politically. For them, it’s not about the truth, the victims or justice. It’s all about politics, and how they can exploit any tragedy to advance their agenda and smear their opponents.

After the Chechnyan revelation, the Left finally stopped blaming right-wingers.   How big of them, after baselessly smearing their fellow Americans for a week.

Irresponsible Media Outdoes Themselves With False Reports, Baseless Suppositions

Muslims Celebrate Boston Terror Attack, Leftists Blame Conservatives And Republicans

Boston Terrorist Were Not Right-Wing Americans

The Chilling Chechen Connection

Boston Jihadi Bombers members of Wahhabi cell funded by Saudi Al Qaeda

Photo: Suspect #2 Put Backpack Down Right Next To 8-Year-Old Martin Richard

Boston suspect’s Web page venerates Islam, Chechen independence

Boston Terrorist Had ‘Terror Links’ on YouTube

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Favorite Song: “We Will Dedicate Our Lives to the Jihad”

One bombing suspect loved pot and Obama, the other was married

Bombing suspect’s mosque hosted author who criticized US, UK for ‘war against Islam’

Bomb Suspects’ Uncle: ‘Somebody Radicalized Them Here’ in America

So Who Inspired Tamerlan Tsarnaev?

Obama Refused to deport Muslim Boston Bomber after 2009 criminal conviction violated immigration rules

Boston Bombers’ Uncle: You Are Losers! You Brought Shame to Our Family!

How the Left Yearned for a White American Bomber — on The Glazov Gang

I learned the difference between facts and speculation in Journalism 101. It never fails to amaze me how much of the evening news is editorializing dressed up as “reporting.” But they’ve really outdone themselves the past three days.

CNN reported earlier today that a suspect for the Boston bombing was in custody and being taken to the Moakley Federal Courthouse.   As word spread on social media, crowds began to gather outside the courthouse.

Trying to clear up confusion, the Boston police finally tweeted at 11:33am:

Despite reports to the contrary there has not been an arrest in the Marathon attack.

— Boston Police Dept. (@Boston_Police) April 17, 2013

Still, they reportedly HAD identified a suspect – they just hadn’t found him yet:

In what could be a major break in the Boston Marathon case, investigators are on the hunt for a man seen in a department-store surveillance video dropping off a bag at the site of the bombings, a Boston politician said Wednesday.

Separately, a law enforcement official confirmed that authorities have found an image of a potential suspect but don’t know his name.

Read more at My Fox Boston

As media and bystanders waited at the courthouse for news, someone called in a bomb threat and the building was quickly evacuated:

The Moakley Federal Courthouse in South Boston was evacuated Wednesday afternoon for a reported bomb threat.

The U.S. Attorney’s office told FOX 25 the courthouse would remain closed for the rest of the day. However, courthouse staff was allowed back into the building just after 4 p.m. The courthouse is scheduled to open Thursday at its regularly scheduled hours.

An attorney attending a pre-trial conference on the third floor of the building told FOX 25′s Erica Ricci red lights began flashing and a “frantic” voice came over the loud speaker of the courthouse and said, “code red, all evacuate the building immediately.”

Read more at My Fox Boston

In the midst of so much confusion and people desperate for answers, it’s understandable why the media is looking for any tidbit of information they can possibly report, but it’s their job to make sure that reports are factual, accurate and substantiated before going on the air.

The FBI got so frustrated with the erroneous reports that the media kept leaking that it warned them about the “unintended consequences” of their irresponsible reporting:

The FBI chided media outlets for wrongly reporting Wednesday afternoon that an arrest had been made in the Boston Marathon bombing, saying “these stories often have unintended consequences.”

[...]  “Over the past day and a half, there have been a number of press reports based on information from unofficial sources that has been inaccurate,” Comcowich said.

Added the agent: “Since these stories often have unintended consequences, we ask the media, particularly at this early stage of the investigation, to exercise caution and attempt to verify information through appropriate official channels before reporting.”

Read more at the Daily Caller

If a suspect potentially got away because the media revealed law enforcement’s cards on this one, they should be fined or charged for interfering in an investigation.

It’s embarrassing that the supposedly “professional” media can’t get their act together, and even jeopardize an investigation with their incompetence.

Mark Levin Goes Off – Slams Lib Media for False Reporting on Boston Explosions (Video)

‘Lord & Taylor’ video leads to identification of Boston Marathon bombing suspect

Muslims Celebrate Boston Terror Attack, Leftists Blame Conservatives And Republicans