Senate GOP to Obama: You don’t write, you don’t call

We’ve heard of “nerd prom,” the ever-more-questionable celebrity banquet staged by the White House press corps for the President and administration they’re supposed to be covering.  Maybe this is “nerd dating gone wrong,” or something:

Senate Republicans who shared laughs with President Obama over dinner at the Jefferson Hotel in March are grumbling there has since been little follow-through from him on deficit talks.
They say the White House has not set up a process for negotiating controversial reforms to Social Security, healthcare programs and the tax code, and that absence of basic organization has stalled negotiations.

“We’ve made no progress. None,” said a GOP senator who had dinner with President Obama earlier this year. “There’s no process in place. Right now we just have 20 Republican senators meeting and talking to themselves.”

In other words, it’s not enough for Senate Republicans to go out on one date.  They want to, er, go steady:

The lawmaker said Obama needs to sit down regularly with about five or six GOP senators to begin making substantial progress toward a deficit-reduction deal.

It’s easy to criticize the Senate Republicans for complaining about the obvious, but it’s the White House who made this a big PR push.  After the sequester disaster, Barack Obama wanted to be seen as accommodating and bipartisan, reaching out for the first time in years to his opposition — notably in the Senate, where it’s a minority, rather than the House.  They played up the dinner with Senate Republicans as a way to argue that any further opposition to Obama’s plans would be the fault of an obstructionist GOP.  Senate Republicans, who have little standing to propose their own agenda while Harry Reid controls the floor, are merely pointing out the threadbare nature of this PR stunt.

In the House, John Boehner doesn’t make any pretense about wanting to negotiate with Obama, which Politico casts as making Boehner weak:

Boehner is a laid-back guy. In the 15 years these reporters have covered him, he has rarely flashed a temper or gotten too worked up — even off the record — when people are trashing him or making his life difficult. He clearly likes power but doesn’t get the charge most others do about actually using it. He would much rather drink wine with members at night than twist their arms in the daytime.

This can make him look, well, weak. Or, at best, like a bystander in the House he runs.
We had an interesting exchange with him about his power and relationship with Obama that captured this.

Boehner said he hasn’t spoken a word of substance with Obama since the grand bargain collapsed in 2012.

We asked the speaker if he had talked to anyone in the White House in 2013. He paused for several seconds, looked over at two aides, and they all racked their brains. Former White House chief of staff Jack Lew had visited once, after he became treasury secretary. And Boehner said chief of staff Denis McDonough “has called a couple of times. I can’t think of any other.”

“That’s kind of weird, right?” we asked. “You’re the speaker of the House. He’s the president. He has not had a substantive conversation with you in 2013. That’s weird, on both ends. Have you called him?”

“No.”
“Why not? You’ve never called the president and said, ‘Let’s talk about immigration so when it hits the floor

… ‘ ”
“I’m busy trying to organize my own guys,” the speaker replied.
Think about this for a moment: The two most powerful men in the world’s most powerful country haven’t bothered to talk to each other about drones, immigration, debt, taxes or anything else for nearly five months. No wonder Washington is such a mess.

That doesn’t make Boehner look weak.  It makes him look realistic.  Obama burned him the last time Boehner went out on a limb to negotiate with the White House (the so-called “grand bargain”); now he wants to keep his efforts within his own power structure. That means the House can pass its own agenda, but more importantly, act as a check on Obama’s by forcing the Senate to deal with Republican bills.  That cuts Obama out of the loop, forces Harry Reid to take Boehner and the entire House GOP caucus into consideration on any legislation, and puts Boehner in position — quietly or otherwise — to act as a crossing guard for any initiative.

The only reason this isn’t more obvious is because Harry Reid can’t even get his own agenda through the Senate with a ten-seat majority.  Boehner has barely had to flex since the beginning of the year.  This position is a lot better for Boehner than trying to shoehorn Obama’s initiatives through the GOP caucus after an uneven negotiation. Unless Reid starts finding some talent for compromise and pushes the agenda back to the center, Boehner won’t have to lift a finger.

That might be helped by more effort from the White House with the Senate Republicans.  Originally I thought this song should be dedicated to those Republicans pining for a call from the White House, but now I think it might be better sung from the West Wing.

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/28/senate-gop-to-obama-you-dont-write-you-dont-call/

Report: Obama asks Pentagon to draw up plan for no-fly zone in Syria: Bush 41 anyone? Obama the same as Bush

So yeah, looks like the White House probably approved of McCain’s trip.
Second look at isolationism?

The White House has asked the Pentagon to draw up plans for a no-fly zone inside Syria that would be enforced by the U.S. and other countries such as France and Great Britain, two administration officials told The Daily Beast…

President Obama’s dual-track strategy of continuing to pursue a political solution to the two-year-old uprising in Syria while also preparing for more direct U.S. military involvement includes authorizing the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the first time to plan for multilateral military actions inside Syria, the two officials said. They added that no decisions on actually using force have yet been made…

In a May 8 meeting of the National Security Council Principals Committee, the White House tasked several agencies with reporting on the pros and cons of two additional potential courses of action: arming vetted and moderate elements of the Syrian opposition, such as the Free Syrian Army, and formally recognizing the Syrian opposition council as the government of Syria, which would mean removing formal U.S. recognition of the Assad regime…
“This is a Kerry initiative,” an administration official said. “It’s also a test of the veracity of the Russian claims that they are committed to a peaceful outcome that reflects the will of the Syrian people.”

This is, I assume, chiefly a pressure tactic to make Assad nervous and concession-minded at the big peace powwow in Geneva next month. It’s also a lure to get the rebels to the table; right now they’re noncommittal about attending unless Assad first promises to step down, which won’t happen. As noted in the last post, everything’s coming up Bashar lately in Syria: Hezbollah’s vowed publicly to help him win the war, his troops are reclaiming territory needed to maintain their supply lines, and Russia’s sending anti-aircraft missiles to shoo the west away from imposing a no-fly zone. With that kind of momentum, Assad has no incentive to make a deal during peace talks. News about the Pentagon drawing up a NFZ plus the EU lifting its embargo on sending weapons to the rebels gives him something to think about. It’s Obama’s attempt at something of a game-changer without committing to actually doing anything.

Why would Assad take the threat seriously, though? The only way a NFZ will play politically for Obama with American voters is if it’s the same sort of turkey shoot that the Libyan NFZ was — which it won’t be. McCain told the Daily Beast that a realistic plan for a no-fly zone “would include hundreds of planes, and would be most effective if it included destroying Syrian airplanes on runways.” It’d be a huge, aggressive operation, and the presence of those Russian missiles means it might not be without casualties. How’s O going to explain American airmen being killed to influence a war between Sunni fundamentalists and a puppet of Shiite fundamentalists? Western air power would also likely be called on to shoot down Iranian aircraft carrying supplies to Assad, which would end the nuclear-talks charade between Iran and the west
(admittedly, not a bad thing) and widen the war in unpredictable ways. Compared to the potential costs, the benefits of intervention are too gassy to rally the public solidly behind military action. War in Libya could be sold as payback for Qaddafi, a longtime enemy and terror supporter (who became a kinda sorta friend in the past decade), and as a humanitarian gesture towards Libyans, whose political sympathies were more

obscure after decades of Qaddafism than the Syrian rebels’ are. Assad’s less well known to Americans and, after two years of Islamist flower under the Arab Spring, the fate of Syria after he’s gone is easy to predict. That’s a harsh landscape against which to make the case for a NFZ. Even McCain seems to think it’s a bluff.
If you missed this last month, watch a palpably skeptical Martin Dempsey explain the challenges of a no-fly zone.

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/28/report-obama-asks-pentagon-to-draw-up-plan-for-no-fly-zone-in-syria/

Bromance Is Forever: Christie Wins Obama a Stuffed Teddy Bear on Boardwalk.

Last time President Obama and Gov. Chris Christie strolled along the Jersey shore together, the chill of fall was in the air. Now it’s summertime, the state is getting back on its feet after Hurricane Sandy, and it’s time for the rekindling of the bromance.

Christie waited for Obama at the base of Air Force One’s stairs in a light drizzle, sans umbrella, according to the White House pool report. Obama jogged down the steps to shake the governor’s hand and give him a bro slap on the shoulder.

The pair beamed as they shook hands along a rope line, then headed to Point Pleasant. A man with an anti-Obama sign gave the motorcade the finger as it rolled past

Obama and Christie chatted with a sand-castle designer looking to break a Guinness record, then moved on to the arcade where Christie won Obama a stuffed bear with a Chicago Bears sweatshirt in a game where you throw a football through a tire. Obama tried to win on his own but missed a few times before Christie scored on his first try, reminiscent of Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ hole-in-one versus Obama on the Andrews Air Force Base golf course.

The president high-fived and clasped hands with Christie after the bear win. “That’s because he’s running for office,” he said.

The pair lingered on the drizzly boardwalk while the press pool was sent back to the holding vans.
“Governor Christie and I just spent some time on the Point Pleasant boardwalk,” Obama subsequently told a crowd at Asbury Park. “I got a chance to see the world’s tallest sandcastle being built. We played some Touchdown Fever — I got to say, Christie got it in the tire the first try — although I did pay for his throws. I played a little Frog Bog, and Governor Christie’s kids taught me the right technique for hitting the hammer to get those frogs in the buckets the way I was supposed to. And, of course, I met with folks who are still rebuilding after Sandy.”

On Air Force One en route to New Jersey, White House press secretary Jay Carney was asked what the relationship between Christie and Obama is like.

“I wouldn’t want to speak for Governor Christie,” Carney said. “I know that the president has respect for Governor Christie and for his efforts on behalf of the citizens of New Jersey, and has found that focus to be key in creating the kind of coordination between federal, state and local entities that is so important when you have to recover from a storm like Sandy.”

Here with President @barackobama on the Point Pleasant Boardwalk #STTS twitter.com/GovChristie/st…
— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) May 28, 2013

Last stop on the Point Pleasant Boardwalk was a quick game of “Frog Bog” with the kids #STTS twitter.com/GovChristie/st…
— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) May 28, 2013

Bear won by Gov Christie in football toss given to Pres Obama. Cute tyke. (Photo by Mike Majchrowitz/Fox News Radio) twitter.com/markknoller/st…
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) May 28, 2013

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/05/28/bromance-is-forever-christie-wins-obama-a-stuffed-teddy-bear-on-boardwalk/

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How Obama, Hillary wrecked Libya Islamic law, terrorist training camps, al-Qaida headquarters.

TEL AVIV – A Library of Congress report that received almost no media attention detailed – one month before the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi – how al-Qaida established a major base of operations in Libya in the aftermath of the U.S.-NATO campaign that deposed Muammar Gadhafi and his secular regime.
The report documented al-Qaida and affiliated organizations were establishing terrorist training camps and pushing Taliban-style Islamic law in Libya while the new, Western-backed Libyan government incorporated jihadists into its militias.

he document named Benghazi as a new central headquarters for al-Qaida activities.
“Al-Qaeda adherents in Libya used the 2011 Revolution to establish well-armed, well-trained, and combat-experienced militias,” stated the report.

The report also said a terrorist released from the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba became the leader of the al-Qaida-affiliate Ansar Al-Sharia in Libya, which espoused anti-Western ideology.
The Martyrs of 17 February Brigade, which was hired by the State Department to protect the U.S. facility in Benghazi, operates under the Ansar-Al-Sharia banner.

The document said scores of Islamic extremists were freed from Libyan prison after the U.S.-supported revolution in Libya.

The August 2012 document was prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under an inter-agency agreement with the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office’s Irregular Warfare Support Program. It may shed new light on the terrorism threat in Libya leading up to the assaults on the U.S. facility and CIA annex in Benghazi.

Despite the growing al-Qaida activity, the U.S. facilities in Benghazi remained poorly protected.
While al-Qaida and other extremist groups were establishing their new headquarters in Libya, the Obama administration reportedly was eager to declare the U.S.-NATO campaign there a victory.

According to testimony by the No. 2 U.S. official in Tripoli, who served under murdered Ambassador Christopher Stevens, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wanted the Benghazi facility turned into a permanent post ahead of her scheduled December 2012 visit to the country. A looming funding deadline may have been the reason that Stevens went to the compound the day of the attacks, the whistleblower charged.

Terrorist training camps
The report shows how various al-Qaida groups, including Al-Qaida Senior Leadership (AQSL) and Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), have sought to take advantage of the downfall of Gadhafi to “create a safe haven and possibly to extend their area of operations to Libya.”

AQSL in Pakistan issued strategic guidance to followers in Libya and elsewhere to take advantage of the Libyan rebellion. Specifically, instructions were given to gather weapons, establish training camps, establish an Islamic state, and institute Shariah, the document relates.

At the time of the report’s release, al-Qaida’s clandestine network in Libya was “in an expansion phase, running training camps and media campaigns on social-media platforms.”

The Libyan revolution “may have created an environment conducive to jihad and empowered the large and active community of Libyan jihadists, which is known to be well connected to international jihad,” the document stated.

The Library of Congress report said Ansar al-Sharia, led by Sufian Ben Qhumu, a former Guantanamo detainee, has increasingly embodied al-Qaida’s presence in Libya.

Qhumu, formerly a driver for Osama bin Laden, was released by the U.S. in 2007 and was transferred to a Libyan prison where he remained until being freed in a 2010 amnesty deal.

Shariah confab
The report noted AQSL’s strategic goals remain “restoration of the caliphate, instituting sharia, and ending the Western presence in Muslim lands.”

“Al-Qaeda’s primary goal in Libya is to establish an Islamic emirate as part of its overall objective to reestablish the caliphate,” the report said.

“The al-Qaeda clandestine network in Libya is most likely espousing a Taliban-like religious orientation that calls for strict adherence to the practice and principles of Islam as interpreted by radical clerics.”
From June 7 to 8, 2012, there was a gathering of groups supporting Shariah openly held at Liberation Square in Benghazi. The event was hosted by Ansar al-Sharia and reportedly attended by at least 15 militias, including al-Qaida-affiliated organizations.

Libyan government and al-Qaida
The report noted the July 2012 elections in Libya “failed to generate a strong and unified national leadership that could address the chronic insecurity posed by the multiplicity of local militias, which al-Qaeda’s clandestine network has probably infiltrated.”

Further, the Western-backed National Transitional Council in Libya “never fully controlled the rebel movement.”

Following the 2012 elections, the Libyan army and police have reconstituted their ranks “by incorporating whole militias regardless of the militants’ background.”

Hillary eager to declare victory
While al-Qaida and other Islamic groups gained major ground in Libya following U.S. intervention there, Clinton worked plans for a symbolic victory in Benghazi, according to congressional testimony by Gregory Hicks, the former State Department deputy chief of mission and chargé d’affairs who was in Libya at the time of the attack.

Under questioning from Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., Hicks explained: “According to [Ambassador] Chris [Stevens], Secretary Clinton wanted Benghazi converted into a permanent constituent post. Timing for this decision was important. Chris needed to report before Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, on the physical and the political and security environment in Benghazi to support an action memo to convert Benghazi from a temporary facility to a permanent facility.”

Hicks revealed the directive came from the State Department Office of Near Eastern Affairs, headed by Acting Assistant Secretary Beth Jones. Money was available to be transferred to Benghazi from a State Department fund set aside for Iraq available, provided the funds transfer had been done by Sept. 30.
He further testified that in May 2012, during a meeting Clinton, Stevens promised he would give priority to making sure the U.S. facility at Benghazi was transformed into a permanent constituent post.
Hicks also explained Stevens wanted to make a symbolic gesture to the people of Benghazi that the United States “stood behind their dream of establishing a new democracy.”

Additionally, he wanted to have the Benghazi complex upgraded to a permanent constituent post, so Clinton could make the announcement in her planned visit to Libya before the end of 2012.

Toward the end of the hearing, the chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., asked Hicks to summarize his testimony on why Stevens went to Benghazi.

“At least one of the reasons Ambassador Stevens was in Benghazi was to further the secretary’s wish that that post become a permanent constituent post and that he was also there because we understood the secretary intended to visit Tripoli later in the year,” Hicks reiterated. “We hoped that she would be able to announce to the Libyan people the establishment of a permanent constituent post in Benghazi at that time.”
Clinton and the U.S. diplomatic staff in Libya reportedly were aware of the terrorist camps in Benghazi. Fox News reported last year the U.S. mission in Benghazi convened an “emergency meeting” in August 2012 to discuss the training camps.

The news network obtained a government cable addressed to Clinton’s office stating the U.S. diplomats in Libya were briefed “on the location of approximately ten Islamist militias and AQ training camps within Benghazi … these groups ran the spectrum from Islamist militias, such as the QRF Brigade and Ansar al-Sharia, to ‘Takfirist thugs.’”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/how-obama-hillary-wrecked-libya/#r2MKmHgA2k0k7zuL.99

Hacking Overshadows Obama's Push for Closer US-China Ties.

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon has pushed for stronger military relations with China as part of preparations for a summit next month between President Barack Obama and China's Xi Jinping.

However, difficulties establishing trust between the sides were underscored by new revelations Tuesday that China used cyberattacks to access data from nearly 40 Pentagon weapons programs and almost 30 other defense technologies, ranging from missile defense systems to the F-35 joint strike fighter.
The disclosure was included in a Defense Science Board report released earlier this year, but is only now being discussed publicly. It came shortly after Donilon wrapped up discussions with Chinese officials in Beijing and as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was heading to Southeast Asia for multinational talks on issues including the escalating cyberthreat.

While officials have been warning for years about China's cyber espionage efforts aimed at U.S. military and high-tech programs, the breadth of the list underscored how routine the attacks have become.
Donilon did not directly mention hacking in his opening comments at a meeting Tuesday morning with Gen. Fan Changlong, a vice chairman of the commission overseeing China's armed forces.
Instead, he emphasized that nontraditional military activities such as peacekeeping, disaster relief and anti-piracy operations offer opportunities to boost cooperation and "contribute to greater mutual confidence and understanding."

A "healthy, stable, and reliable military-to-military relationship" is an essential part of overall China-U.S. ties, Donilon said at the start of the meeting at China's hulking Defense Ministry building in central Beijing.
Donilon met with a range of Chinese officials over two days to hammer out plans for the June 7-8 summit, the first face-to-face meeting between the presidents since Obama's re-election and Xi's promotion to Communist Party chief last November.

Their informal summit at the private Sunnylands estate of the late publishing tycoon Walter Annenberg in southern California will come months before the two leaders had been originally scheduled to meet, underscoring concerns that the U.S-China relationship was drifting.

Xi told Donilon on Monday that relations were at a critical juncture, and that the sides must now "build on past successes and open up new dimensions for the future."

Building trust between their militaries is one of the main challenges the sides face in seeking to stop a drift in relations, troubled by issues from trade disputes to allegations of Chinese cyberspying.

A White House statement issued after Tuesday's meeting emphasized the need to cooperate further on North Korea, cyber-security, climate change and stability in Asia. It called the upcoming summit a "unique and important opportunity" to discuss U.S.-China relations and regional and global challenges facing both countries.

Although Washington and Beijing have talked about boosting military cooperation for more than a decade, distrust runs high and disagreements over Taiwan, North Korea and China's assertive claims to disputed territories in the East and South China seas remain potential flashpoints.

The U.S. has repeatedly questioned the purpose of China's heavy military buildup over the past two decades, while Beijing is deeply suspicious of Washington's new focus on military alliances in Asia and plans to redeploy more weaponry and troops to the Asia-Pacific region.

Steps to increase benign interactions between their militaries have been modest so far, including joint anti-piracy drills in the Gulf of Aden and a classroom natural disaster response simulation. The U.S. has also invited China to take part in large U.S.-led multinational naval exercises, though China has not said if it would participate.

Apart from purely military issues, distrust has deepened as the U.S. feels its world leadership challenged and China, its power growing, demands greater deference to its interests and a larger say over global rule-setting. Chinese officials and state media regularly say Washington is thwarting China's rise by hemming Beijing in through its Asian alliances and discouraging Chinese investment in the U.S. on grounds of national security.
U.S. officials have been far more open about discussing the China cyberattacks over the past year or two, beginning with a November 2011 report by U.S. intelligence agencies that accused China of systematically stealing American high-tech data for its own national economic gain. The Pentagon, meanwhile, in its latest report on China's military power, asserted publicly for the first time that Beijing's military was likely behind computer-based attacks targeting federal agencies.

"In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the U.S. government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military," said the report, which was released earlier this month.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/hacking-overshadows-obamas-push-closer-us-china-ties

Obama’s Cultural Transformation Of America: DOJ Tells Employees to Verbally Affirm Homosexuality: Christians are frightened and terrified of losing their jobs,” Staver told Fox News. “You just can’t keep you head down and do your job. Now you have to become an advocate for the LGBT agenda – and if you don’t – the DOJ will consider that to be intolerant.

The Department of Justice has been accused of religious intolerance and viewpoint discrimination after workers were sent an email directing them to verbally affirm homosexuality, according to a law firm specializing in religious liberty and now representing a DOJ whistleblower.

FOLLOW TODD ON FACEBOOK FOR CULTURE WAR NEWS. CLICK HERE TO JOIN!
Liberty Counsel said DOJ employees were emailed a brochure called “LGBT Inclusion at Work: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Managers.” The brochure was created as a resource from DOJ Pride, an association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of the DOJ.

A Department of Justice spokesperson did not return calls seeking comment. Fox News also reached out to DOJ Pride for comment – but emails were not answered.

Among the directives in the brochure is an order for workers to vocally affirm homosexuality.
“Don’t judge or remain silent,” the brochure read. “Silence will be interpreted as disapproval.”
They were also told to post “DOJ Pride” stickers in their office to indicate “that it is a safe place.”
One gay DOJ employee is quoted in the directive; “Silence seems like disapproval. There’s still an atmosphere of LGBT issues not being appropriate for the workplace (particularly for transgender people), or that people who bring it up are trying to rock the boat.”

Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, said every American should be outraged by the DOJ orders.
“This administration is pushing the most radical, immoral agenda on the American people,” Staver said. “Christians are not merely required to ‘shut up,’ but now they are being coerced to embrace immorality that goes against their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Liberty Counsel is representing an unidentified female DOJ worker in Washington, D.C. who received the brochure.

Staver said the woman is terrified she might lose her job unless she publicly affirms homosexuality – and she’s not the only one.

“Christians are frightened and terrified of losing their jobs,” Staver told Fox News. “You just can’t keep you head down and do your job. Now you have to become an advocate for the LGBT agenda – and if you don’t – the DOJ will consider that to be intolerant.”

CLICK HERE FOR ACCURATE INFORMATION ON OBAMA’S WAR ON TRADITIONAL AMERICAN VALUES! TODD’S AMERICAN DISPATCHES

Staver said the idea that Christians who might oppose homosexuality have to put up a pro-gay symbol in their office smacks of thought police.

“Under this directive, one cannot be a Christian and a manager at the Department of Justice,” he said. “How does one who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible display ‘gay pride’ stickers?”

Liberty Counsel vice president Matt Barber told Fox News the DOJ has created an extremely hostile work environment for Christians.

“This is ‘1984’ just a few decades late,” Barber said. “This is so Orwellian. President Obama said he intended to fundamentally transform America. That’s exactly what they are doing and they are doing it within the Department of Justice.”

Barber said some female DOJ workers have also expressed concerns about transgender workers using their bathroom facilities.

“They (DOJ leaders) have said if you are uncomfortable with a man in a skirt using the facilities – then tough – you need to get over it,” Barber told Fox News.

The brochure quoted a male employee who dresses like a woman: “I want people to understand that I’m real. I want to be recognized as the gender I really am…Just imagine if people were constantly debating YOUR bathroom privileges. Imagine how humiliating that would be.”

Workers were also told to use “inclusive” words like partner or significant other – rather than traditional terms like husband or wife. They were also told to use a transgender person’s chosen name and the pronoun that is consistent with the person’s self-identified gender.

DOJ employees were told to stop using phrases like “gay lifestyle” or “sexual preference” –because those words are “considered by many as offensive.”

Barber said it was a form of sexual harassment.

“If you feel sexually harassed and complain about it – then you are the one who could get in trouble – because you’ve violated the transgender person’s rights,” he said.

ACLJ Announces Official Lawsuits from 25 Conservative Groups Against the IRS

The scandal plaguing the IRS has just taken another twist as the agency is being hit with lawsuits filed in district court by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) on behalf of many groups who claim they been unfairly targeted by the tax agency.

ACLJ’s Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow announced this morning that he was filing “an inch-thick” complaint from 25 groups. Sekulow also believes that original complaint will be amended next week to “add another dozen or so groups.”

Jay Sekulow announced Federal lawsuits against IRS in targeting

Among ACLJ’s evidence that this was not a low-level problem created by two rogue employees in Cincinnati:

• 15 letters to various groups demanding answers to IRS questions were all hand-signed by Lois Lerner. (as seen on TheBlaze on 5/17)
• At least 4 different offices were involved over the past year and a half.
• Jay Carney claimed the targeting stopped in May of 2012, one of Jay’s clients has a letter from May of this year.

Image: ACLJ YouTube

According to ACLJ’s lead counsel, Jay Sekulow, “The White House knew there was a problem with the agency’s approach because the Deputy Treasury Secretary was aware of it, the White House counsel was aware of it. And the chief of staff was aware of the problem. It goes higher than Lois Lerner.”

During Sekulow’s appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” he clearly stated his belief that the IRS treatment of his clients had risen to the level of “harassment.” Sekulow also believes that the problem came from above Lois Lerner, but would not speculate that it went all the way to the White House.

You can watch Wednesday morning’s appearance by Jay Sekulow on MSNBC’s Morning Joe here.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/29/aclj-announces-official-lawsuits-from-25-conservative-groups-against-the-irs/

'Pro-Family' March Brings 250,000+ To The Streets Of Paris: It Brought Tears to Our Eyes’: American Describes Witnessing Thousands in Paris March Against Gay Marriage

Although France officially legalized gay marriage last month, organizers of an anti-gay marriage — or “pro-family” — parade decided to go forward with a planned demonstration Sunday — and hundreds of thousands turned out.

Sandy Glass from Naperville, Illinois, was in Paris and witnessed the parade unexpectedly, telling TheBlaze she and her husband estimated more than 250,000 people were present.

“It brought tears to our eyes,” Glass, a conservative and Glenn Beck fan, said in a phone interview.

“We go to France a lot and thought it was another left wing protest,” she said later, recalling that last year they found themselves in the middle of a Socialist rally.

When they followed the noise and witnessed what she described as “pro-family” signs, Glass said she realized “oh, we’re not the only ‘crazy’ ones,” explaining that it is “sometimes very difficult to be on the right in America.”

The Associated Press reported there being about 5,000 police present for the demonstration, due to clashes that have occurred in other anti-gay marriage protests.

But Glass said the event was very well organized and even seemed to have its own security detail.

“Nobody bothered these people,” she said, noting that people on the street were giving thumbs up and people in balconies were cheering. ”

Here are some photos from the event:

"Pro-Family" March in Paris Draws Thousands

• 
  FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty ImagesChildren wave flags on top of a bus stop to support demonstrators of the anti-gay marriage movement 'La Manif Pour Tous' (Demonstration for all) during a mass protest on May 26, 2013 in Paris against a gay marriage law. France on May 18 became the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage after President Francois Hollande signed the measure into law following months of bitter debate and demonstrations.
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  FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty ImagesMember of French right-wing opposition UMP party, Guillaume Peltier (C) marches among supporters of the anti-gay marriage movement 'La Manif Pour Tous' (Demonstration for all) during a mass protest on May 26, 2013 in Paris against a gay marriage law. France on May 18 became the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage after President Francois Hollande signed the measure into law following months of bitter debate and demonstrations.
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  FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty ImagesSupporters of the anti-gay marriage movement 'La Manif Pour Tous' (Demonstration for all) march across a bridge and along the Seine river bank during a mass protest on May 26, 2013 in Paris against a gay marriage law. France on May 18 became the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage after President Francois Hollande signed the measure into law following months of bitter debate and demonstrations.
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  FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty ImagesSupporters of the anti-gay marriage movement 'La Manif Pour Tous' (Demonstration for all) hold a banner reading 'All for a renewable mankind' during a mass protest on May 26, 2013 in Paris against a gay marriage law. France on May 18 became the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage after President Francois Hollande signed the measure into law following months of bitter debate and demonstrations.
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  FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty ImagesSupporters of the anti-gay marriage movement 'La Manif Pour Tous' (Demonstration for all) wave flags in front of the Eiffel Tower during a mass protest on May 26, 2013 in Paris against a gay marriage law. France on May 18 became the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage after President Francois Hollande signed the measure into law following months of bitter debate and demonstrations.
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  FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty ImagesA supporter of the anti-gay marriage movement 'La Manif Pour Tous' (Demonstration for all) collects donations from a demonstrator during a mass protest on May 26, 2013 in Paris against a gay marriage law. France on May 18 became the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage after President Francois Hollande signed the measure into law following months of bitter debate and demonstrations.
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  FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty ImagesSupporters of the anti-gay marriage movement 'La Manif Pour Tous' (Demonstration for all) march towards the Eiffel Tower during a mass protest on May 26, 2013 in Paris against a gay marriage law. France on May 18 became the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage after President Francois Hollande signed the measure into law following months of bitter debate and demonstrations.

“It was such a show of force that was pro something, not against something,” she said. “I think it was awesome.”

The plan of French protesters, according to Glass, is to vote out lawmakers with whom they hold opposition in 2014.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/26/it-brought-tears-to-our-eyes-american-describes-witnessing-thousands-in-paris-march-against-gay-marriage/

The Honeymoon is Over: Half of Americans Want to See Obama Impeached:

I would like to take you back to a time not too long ago. Think back to 2008 and early 2009 and recall the nauseating Obama-hysteria that made Beatlemania look tame by comparison. Children’s books were written about the gloriousness of Barack Obama and the cult-like worship took on an unsettling momentum.
People adorned themselves with his ominous image and the buzzwords were- you guessed it- “hope” and “change.” Americans were promised change and told that hope was a good thing. While I never bought into the con, even I was naïve as I could not have fathomed just how terrible a president the community organizer would be.

Now let’s fast-forward to present day. Where are the “hope” tee shirts with Obama staring dreamily upward? Where are the messengers and Johnny-come-lately political know-it-alls who assert that Obama will change everything and the country is now saved? The dorm room walls of rebellious college students who read Marx for the first time have gone from Che to Obama and are now festooned with a picture of George W. Bush as the students who can’t find work mutter, “I guess he wasn’t so bad.”

According to a recent poll conducted by the public-opinion research and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies, half of Americans want to see President Obama impeached.
That includes a surprising one in four Democrats.
Fritz Wenzel, who conducted the poll, noted,

“Half or nearly half of those surveyed said they believed Obama should be impeached for the trifecta of scandals now consuming Washington.”

“It may be early in the process for members of Congress to start planning for impeachment of Barack Obama, but the American public is building a serious appetite for it.”

When discussing the Benghazi attack and the Obama Administration’s cover-up, the poll found that 50.1 percent of Americans said Obama should be impeached. That included 27.6 percent of the responding Democrats.

When discussing the IRS scandal that had the Obama Administration’s IRS targeting Tea Party and conservative groups for harassment, 49 percent said they agree that impeachment is appropriate, including 24.4 percent of the responding Democrats.

When discussing the AP scandal where the Obama Administration’s Justice Department broadly surveilled the phone records of reporters for, what seems to be, no justifiable reason, the poll found that 48.6 percent thought impeachment is appropriate. That included 26.1 percent of the responding Democrats.
When we juxtapose the current feelings about the Obama Administration with how America felt early in his first term, the fall from grace is as incredible as it is satisfying. Obama’s “administration of transparency” has become the most corrupt and villainous administration that this country has ever known. Even with a lapdog media softening the blows, Americans are still fed up with the criminal who occupies the White House.

http://www.tpnn.com/the-honeymoon-is-over-half-of-americans-want-to-see-obama-impeached/

Texas official: Obama playing politics with U.S. border:

 

Mexican drug cartels are running rampant across the Texas border, and the federal government is doing little to impede their smuggling and violence, says the Lone Star State’s Agriculture Commissioner, Todd Staples.
Staples, who addressed the House Immigration Reform Caucus on border security and immigration issues last week, is one of a cavalcade of local officials and interested parties making their way to Washington, DC as the Senate considers the “Gang of Eight” omnibus immigration bill.

But his advocacy for farmers and ranchers in Texas, he told The Daily Caller, gives Staples a special perspective on the immigration issue. Texans along the southern border, he said, feel like they’re living in a no-man’s land and must fend for themselves in the absence of federal enforcement.

“The Constitution says it’s the federal government’s duty to protect against incursion from foreign invasion. I can’t think of a better way to describe this,” says Staples, who is running for lieutenant governor of Texas in 2014, largely on an immigration-reform platform.  The state gets short shrift compared to California and Arizona, Staples said. “People have a right to defend themselves.”

He’s not referring to groups like the Minutemen but to ranchers and farmers defending themselves against armed marauders. “What the federal government has done is create a situation in which it’s impossible for good men and women to tell the difference between thugs who want to do harm and illegal immigrants just looking for work.”

In his book “Broken Border, Broken Promises,” Staples describes constituents who have gun battles with cartels, others who have fled hostile

intruders and some who narrowly avoided kidnapping.

Staples, whose department in 2011 ordered a “Strategic Military Assessment” of immigration from retired Army general and former drug czar Barry McCaffrey, says Washington needs to pay closer attention to links among South and Central American regimes, criminal networks and fanatical foreign powers. He advocates naming Mexican cartels as terrorist groups and adopting some of the military hardware now at play on the Afghan-Pakistan border along America’s southern border.
“Military mobilization is not what I’m suggesting,” Staples said. “Just a commitment to security, but we have to have the will. Unfortunately, it’s not evident in this administration.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/27/texas-official-obama-playing-politics-with-u-s-border/#ixzz2UbprZNUO

Obama Threatens UK With Economic Penalties if it Leaves EU.

During Cameron’s visit, Obama bizarrely inserted himself into a national debate within the UK over whether to leave the European Union urging Brits to fix their relationship with the EU, rather than “breaking it off”.

Now Obama Inc. is making it clear that a proposed US-European trade agreement will not include the UK if it withdraws and that no separate agreement will be negotiated.

The Obama administration has warned British officials that if the UK leaves Europe it will exclude itself from a US-EU trade and investment partnership potentially worth hundreds of billions of pounds a year, and that it was very unlikely that Washington would make a separate deal with Britain.

There is no reason to tell this to UK officials who are probably less retarded than their American counterparts the obvious. Just as during the Cameron visit, we’re looking at stage managed statements pre-arranged between Cameron and Obama’s people.

The so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is largely imaginary. Its prospects in the Senate aren’t that good and France and some other European countries don’t much care for it. The European Parliament is already scaling down the proposed pact and by the time everyone sticks in their exceptions, there won’t be much of an agreement left.

The TTP agreement would make far more sense if it were between the United States and the United Kingdom, but its whole purpose is bait to keep the UK in the EU. It’s a carrot being held out on a long stick to offer the promise of benefits that will never materialize if only UK voters give up their flirtation with independence.

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/obama-threatens-uk-with-economic-penalties-if-it-leaves-eu/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=obama-threatens-uk-with-economic-penalties-if-it-leaves-eu