Libertyblog

Telling

The Senate Intelligence Committee is so proud of its oversight process that it wants absolutely no discussion of it. (Via Hot Air.)

The P-Word

Obambi is still cloaking his support of infanticide in a woman’s right to “privacy.” Of course, he’s logging her calls to the abortion clinic.

Also, note the reaction of one woman to news of an impending grandchild:

I told my mom I was pregnant. She said, “Get an abortion.”

If she’d been wondering what kind of daughter she was, she got all the feedback she’ll ever need.

Climate Surveys

These are the anonymous reports used by the military that show it is a hotbed of racism, sexual assault, or whatever the concern du jour is. They provide the rationale for treating certain groups within the armed forces with kid gloves. The respondents know that and fill out the surveys accordingly.

A Good Summary ...

... of the most obvious defects of the amnesty bill:

It is an amnesty-first, enforcement-maybe program drawn up mainly to reflect the priorities of 11 million citizens of other countries rather than the concerns of more than 300 million citizens of the United States.

Most of the so-called security triggers in the bill are paper tigers. The requirement that those applying for amnesty have clean criminal records in fact allows for two misdemeanor convictions and, like most of the triggers, can be waived by the Department of Homeland Security. Senator John Cornyn of Texas has sought to have those with drunk-driving convictions excluded, but he is meeting resistance ...

Likewise, the fines for illegal immigrants contemplated by the Gang of Eight can, under the current bill, be waived by DHS, and the collection of unpaid taxes applies only to levies already assessed by our dear friends at the IRS. The main security provisions of the legislation require only that DHS draw up a plan for security. (That is classic Washington: a plan to have a plan.) The much-vaunted requirement that DHS achieve 90 percent effectiveness for border security requires only self-certification by the DHS; in the unlikely event that DHS does not give itself a passing score, the only result under the law would be the creation of a commission to study the problem. Completing a border fence is left to the discretion of the DHS, which does not support doing so...

All of the concerns above are problematic on their own, but they are rendered especially troublesome by the fact that the legalization of millions of illegal immigrants happens first, immediately and irreversibly. If this bill should be signed into law, the amnesty would go into effect immediately, and the most that any of the so-called triggers would do is delay the process of allowing the formerly illegal immigrants to apply for green cards and citizenship ...

The Gang of Eight bill does not serve the economic interests of the United States. The fact is that our public schools do an excellent job of producing an abundant supply of unskilled workers with little or no proficiency in English, and the national labor force is not achingly in need of a few million more ... [N]obody in this debate has made much of a serious attempt to explain how or why that amnesty is in the interests of the citizens of the United States.

Read the whole thing.

Synergy!

Agribusiness welfare and a fraud-ridden food stamp program combine in a “farm bill” that shows our precipitous national decline.

Shameless

Hollywood holds another referendum on pedophilia:

Disgraced former “Sesame Street” puppeteer and producer Kevin Clash won three Daytime Awards in Los Angeles this weekend.

Clash lent his voice to the fuzzy, red monster Elmo for nearly three decades, but resigned last year after several men came forward and said they had sex with him when they were minors. Although no criminal charges have been brought against Clash, several men are suing him for his alleged abusive behavior.

Roman Polanski could not be reached for comment. (Via Drudge.)

Relaunch

“Obamaphones” are now “Obamashoes” or “Obamaheroin” depending on your tastes. (Via Drudge.)

The Last Straw

Wavering GOP lawmakers considering the amnesty bill now face an electorate not anticipated by our Constitution:

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states cannot require would-be voters to prove they are U.S. citizens before using a federal registration system designed to make signing up easier.

Meet Your New Americans

Drunk drivers and wife beaters.

A Chick Thing

Wisconsin State Senator Lena Taylor wants to let gallery onlookers interrupt the proceedings of her legislature—provided they’re pro-abortion women.

More of This, Please

In by God Texas:

Dorothy Baker, of Baytown, said she was driving with her 2-year-old and 5-year-old sons when a man popped up from behind the third row of her van, demanding $200 in cash, KHOU reports.

Baker said she only had $20 in her bank account, and the man, later identified by police as 53-year-old Ismael Martinez, threatened to hurt her kids if she didn’t get the full $200.

After ignoring Martinez’s request to make a turn, Baker said he lunged at her with a knife.

While she was still driving, Baker was able to knock the knife out of his hand and pushed him to the passenger seat, according to the station.

“And I told him to get the hell out of my car,” Baker said. “And he said ‘fine.’ He got out and started running and the next thing I thought was if he gets away he can do this to somebody else.”

Baker said she then ran down Martinez with her van as he tried to get away. She believes Martinez, who is in stable condition at a hospital, got in her unlocked van during a stop at a Kroger food store.

“A Classic Example of Hubris”

The immigration bill that Marco Rubio dreamed would make him president will more likely ensure he never reaches that office, whatever happens to the bill. The proximate cause? This statement from a Rubio aide:

There are American workers who, for lack of a better term, can’t cut it ... There shouldn’t be a presumption that every American worker is a star performer. There are people who just can’t get it, can’t do it, don’t want to do it. And so you can’t obviously discuss that publicly.

This may end up with “Rum, Romanism and Rebellion” in the history of political gaffes.

Paging Milo Minderbinder

Making war on ourselves:

Because the standing authorization for the use of military force permits the president to order military action against Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda-affiliated groups, there actually exists (arguably) legal authority for Obama to go to war in Syria ... against the rebels. 

And none at all to go to war on their side.

(Via Hot Air.)

Spoken Like a Lawyer

Terms of art:

A team led by a state-appointed emergency manager said Friday that Detroit is defaulting on about $2.5 billion in unsecured debt and is asking creditors to take about 10 cents on the dollar of what the city owes them.

Kevyn Orr spent two hours with about 180 bond insurers, pension trustees, union representatives and other creditors in a move to avoid what bankruptcy experts have said would be the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Got that? He’s offering creditors ten cents on the dollar to avoid bankruptcy. I guess that dime is the difference between bankruptcy and going broke.

The creditors should hold out for eleven cents on the dollar.

No Longer Operative

The claim that only some local yokels denied tea partiers tax exempt status has expired:

An Internal Revenue Service supervisor in Washington says she was personally involved in scrutinizing some of the earliest applications from tea party groups seeking tax-exempt status, including some requests that languished for more than a year without action.

Holly Paz, who until recently was a top deputy in the division that handles applications for tax-exempt status, told congressional investigators she reviewed 20 to 30 applications. Her assertion contradicts initial claims by the agency that a small group of agents working in an office in Cincinnati were solely responsible for mishandling the applications.

And now the AP spin:

Paz, however, provided no evidence that senior IRS officials ordered agents to target conservative groups or that anyone in the Obama administration outside the IRS was involved.

They didn’t need to order it, it was already being done; they needed only to make sure it didn’t stop, and it didn’t.

Protected Class

The story:

Ex-WNBA player and Olympic gold medalist Chamique Holdsclaw has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from an argument and shooting in November.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard says Holdsclaw pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and other charges. The 35-year-old was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to pay a $3,000 fine under the plea agreement.

Holdsclaw’s attorney Ed Garland says his client ‘‘felt that to honestly accept what her actions were was best for everyone concerned.’’

Holdsclaw was arrested after the confrontation in Atlanta with Tulsa Shock player Jennifer Lacy, who told police she was Holdsclaw’s ex-girlfriend. Authorities said Holdsclaw broke Lacy’s car windows with a bat and then fired a shot into it. No one was injured.

InstaPundit link:

Would a male ex-athlete get such a light sentence for domestic violence involving a firearm? Well, possibly.

How about:

Would a heterosexual ex-athlete get such a light sentence for domestic violence involving a firearm?

Sir Libertyblog

Hmmm, has a ring to it ... (Via InstaPundit.)

Our Constitutional Scholar President

Loose lips sink sentences:

Two defendants in military sexual assault cases cannot be punitively discharged, if found guilty, because of “unlawful command influence” derived from comments made by President Barack Obama, a judge ruled in a Hawaii military court this week.

Navy Judge Cmdr. Marcus Fulton ruled during pretrial hearings in two sexual assault cases — U.S. vs. Johnson and U.S. vs. Fuentes — that comments made by Obama as commander in chief would unduly influence any potential sentencing, according to a court documents obtained by Stars and Stripes.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Fulton approved the pretrial defense motions, which used as evidence comments that Obama made about sexual assault at a May 7 news conference.

“The bottom line is: I have no tolerance for this,” Obama said, according to an NBC News story submitted as evidence by defense attorneys in the sexual assault cases.

“I expect consequences,” Obama added. “So I don’t just want more speeches or awareness programs or training, but ultimately folks look the other way. If we find out somebody’s engaging in this, they’ve got to be held accountable — prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged. Period.”

The judge’s pretrial ruling means that if either defendant is found guilty, whether by a jury or a military judge, they [sic] cannot receive a bad conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. Sailors found guilty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice’s Article 120, which covers several sexual crimes including assault and rape, generally receive punitive discharges.

In Obambi’s defense, he thinks his job is giving high-minded speeches, not actually running stuff. (Via InstaPundit.)

Not My Job

Stunning:

This week, in front of the House Budget Committee, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel also opened some eyes. When Chairman Paul Ryan inquired about a veto threat, Hagel admitted that the Obama White House doesn’t consult him on defense budget issues.

Maybe not so stunning; Hagel’s confirmation hearings established he’s an idiot.

Gathering Evidence or Gathering Intelligence?

Lawyer startled by war:

The National Security Agency has acknowledged in a new classified briefing that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, disclosed this week that during a secret briefing to members of Congress, he was told that the contents of a phone call could be accessed “simply based on an analyst deciding that.”

If the NSA wants “to listen to the phone,” an analyst’s decision is sufficient, without any other legal authorization required, Nadler said he learned. “I was rather startled,” said Nadler, an attorney and congressman who serves on the House Judiciary committee.

Not only does this disclosure shed more light on how the NSA’s formidable eavesdropping apparatus works domestically, it also suggests the Justice Department has secretly interpreted federal surveillance law to permit thousands of low-ranking analysts to eavesdrop on phone calls.

Because the same legal standards that apply to phone calls also apply to e-mail messages, text messages, and instant messages, Nadler’s disclosure indicates the NSA analysts could also access the contents of Internet communications without going before a court and seeking approval.

The disclosure appears to confirm some of the allegations made by Edward Snowden, a former NSA infrastructure analyst who leaked classified documents to the Guardian. Snowden said in a video interview that, while not all NSA analysts had this ability, he could from Hawaii “wiretap anyone from you or your accountant to a federal judge to even the president.”

If this is for warfare and not law enforcement, it’s okay by me. This would be clearer if the military were doing it.

Meanwhile:

The U.S. government only searched for detailed information on calls involving fewer than 300 specific phone numbers among the millions of raw phone records collected by the National Security Agency in 2012, according to a government paper obtained by Reuters on Saturday.

The unclassified paper was circulated Saturday within the government by U.S. intelligence agencies and apparently is an attempt by spy agencies and the Obama administration to rebut accusations that it overreached in investigating potential militant plots.

And a reasonable person would say that attempt succeeded. (Via Drudge.)

UPDATE: It turns out that Nadler may have been lying more than Obambi. His new story:

Rep. Nadler in a statement to BuzzFeed says: “I am pleased that the administration has reiterated that, as I have always believed, the NSA cannot listen to the content of Americans’ phone calls without a specific warrant.”

What they’re technically capable of, legally capably of, and administraively capable of preventing may be three different things. (Via InstaPundit.)

Father’s Day, 1961

A blast from the past featuring both of Libertyblog’s grandfathers, with narration added.

Happy Father’s Day!

The Truth Doesn’t Matter

Apparently that’s the basis for our Middle East policy, not just our surveillance policy.

“I Didn’t Lie,” He Lied.

Previewing Eric Holder’s testimony.

Configuration Control

Bad security:

Questions were raised Friday about security procedures at the ultra-secret National Security Agency, after it emerged that Edward Snowden, the contract employee who leaked details of the agency’s broad-scale data gathering on Americans, exceeded his authorized access to computer systems and smuggled out Top Secret documents on a USB drive — a thumb-sized data storage device banned from use on secret military networks.

“He should not have been able to do either of those things” without setting off alarm bells, said one private sector IT security specialist who has worked on U.S. government classified networks. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities of his current employer.

NSA officials “were laying down on their job if they didn’t disable the USB port,” the specialist said, referring to the small socket on the side of a computer where thumb drives are plugged in.

The NSA, which is still trying to ascertain the full extent of the breach, did not respond to a request for comment.

The Los Angeles Times first reported that Mr. Snowden used a USB thumb drive to smuggle electronic copies of an unknown number of classified documents out of the NSA facility in Hawaii where he worked. A U.S. official confirmed to The Washington Times “that’s one avenue” investigators are following.

The use of thumb drives on classified military systems — including those at NSA — has been effectively banned since malicious software, thought to be of Russian origin, infected the secret computer networks of U.S. Central Command five years ago.

A number of commercially available programs can switch off the USB port of every computer on the network.

“There is easily available software to do that,” said the security specialist, noting that there were also low-tech, more permanent means available.

“I have seen places where they used a hot glue gun to block it,” he said of the USB port.

I faced a similar problem twenty years ago. We wanted to record the computer bus traffic on our C-17 operational test aircraft. The system was basically a personal computer with three bus interface cards. The cards came with a transmit function which we disabled (i.e. wire cutters) to make sure no one was trying to fly the aircraft from the crew rest area.

The NSA either did nothing or relied on software to prevent USB drives from being used. If they relied on software, they did so in a building full of computer geeks who would draw no special attention sitting at their computers and typing. (Via Drudge.)