Obama supporter calls for the rape of Ryan's 13-year-old daughter

Tim Bitici loves the idea of raping young girls.

From Twitter:

‏@timBitici I hope Ryan's daughter gets f---ked and pregnant at 13. 

(Edited for profanity in the original.)

That would be Tim Bitici, contributing fashion editor, stylist and art director for "A" magazine published by Rizzoli International Publications, as well as an editor at Conde Nast's Fairchild magazine.

According to his bio "he also also worked on numerous international advertising campaigns from Pepe Jeans, Lane Bryant, Avon, Maybeline, Kenneth Cole, Burton, Target and many Bridal Campaigns."

The Wash. Post calls Biden a liar on birth control

"Vice President Biden said the Affordable Care Act would not require religious groups to finance coverage of birth control," The Washington Post reports. "Biden was referring to the so-called contraceptive mandate, which requires insurers to provide coverage for birth control without charging additional co-payments."

"...there are still unsettled issues in this matter, so Biden went a bit far saying it is a fact that they will not pay for contraceptives.

"Some church organizations still object to the mandate despite the exemption for religion-affiliated groups, arguing that they could end up paying for birth control indirectly if the mandate causes their health insurance costs to rise."

Obama's so-called exemption covers only direct fees for birth control, which must be covered.  Insurers will raise overall rates to cover the costs, which means religious groups are still forced against their will to fund birth control.

"Furthermore, the Obama administration said in March that it will come up with an accommodation for religiously affiliated employers that self-insure, but it has not yet decided how to handle that seven months later."

Video: Even NBC calls Biden a liar

NBC blows up Biden's opening lie, about Libya

$2.5 billion in taxpayer funds propel Al Gore into 'the 1% '

When Al Gore left the White House in 2001, he was worth less than $2 million.  Today he is worth over $100 million.

How?

Fourteen so-called "green" companies with ties to Al Gore have pocketed a combined $2.5 billion in taxpayer funds thanks to "green energy" programs pushed by Barack Obama, The Washington Post reports.

Gore’s investments coincided with the government’s largest investment in clean tech. A full 10 percent, estimated at $80 billion to $90 billion, of the 2009 stimulus package was devoted to clean energy.

Like thousands of other companies, those Gore invested in entered the competition for a piece of the pie. (An administration official said more than 80 percent of applicants the first year were turned away.) Several companies in Gore’s portfolio emerged as winners. Of the 11 companies he mentioned in his 2008 slide show, nine received or directly benefited from stimulus or clean energy funding.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee and is a leading critic of clean tech funding, said Gore’s portfolio “is reflective of a disturbing pattern that those closest to the president have been rewarded with billions of taxpayer dollars . . . and benefited from the administration’s green bonanza in the rush to spend stimulus cash.”

New ad exposes Arizona Dem Senate candidate Richard Carmona's personal violence towards women

The ad features Dr. Cristina V. Beato, Acting Assistant Secretary of Health in the Department of Health and Human Services from 2003 to 2005, speaking directly to the camera.  Dr. Beato talks about two different occasions in which Carmona stalked her over workplace issues.

Obama personally asked Carmona to run for Senate, even after sworn testimony revealing his ethics issues and violent attitude toward women.

AD TRANSCRIPT

There was an angry counting on the door in the middle of the night

I'm a single mom

I feared for my kids and for myself

It was richard car mona

And i was his boss.

Carmen is not who he seems

He has issues with anger, with ethics, and with women

I have testified to this under oath to Congress.

Richard Carmona should never, ever be in the U.S. Senate

Bullock loses again, forced to admit ANOTHER anti-speech law unconstitutional

Once again Montana citizens have been forced to go to federal court to stop attempts by politicians to outlaw dissent.

And once again the Helena establishment's efforts to outlaw dissent has been struck down as unconstitutional.

"U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull approved a settlement Tuesday in the case of a Billings minister who sued the state after being arrested on trespassing charges while gathering signatures for a ballot measure seeking to amend the state's constitution to define unborn children as persons," the Associated Press reports.

"We are very pleased that yet another absurd, anti-free speech Montana election law has been struck down," said Bozeman attorney Matthew Monforton, who represented Zastrow. "This means that Cal and other pastors have the same right to engage in the political process that everyone else has."

Attorney General Steve Bullock and Political Practices Commissioner James Murry were named as defendants, adding to the long list of suits filed against them citizens prosecuted for expressing conservative views.

After repeated courtroom losses to American Tradition Partnership and an admonishment from a federal court he was engaging in the "petty bureaucratic harassment" of innocent citizens for having political views different from his liberal one, Bullock did not even try to defend the latest attempt to prosecute citizens for speech.

The AP reports:

County officials did not allege that Zastrow violated the 1913 law on coercion or undue influence that limits the speech of ministers, clergy and churches regarding candidates and ballot issues. But Zastrow's lawsuit sought to prevent the state from threatening to enforce it.

Assistant Attorney General Michael Black, who handled the case for the state, said he did not believe the statute had ever been enforced.

"Based on our review we chose to allow the court to enter the judgment that it was unconstitutional," Black said.

Cebull granted a permanent injunction that prevents the state and county from enforcing the statute and prohibits its text from being included on "warning posters" which are displayed at polling places throughout the state, the newspaper reported.

Bullock suddenly claims he’ll follow laws he broke at least 18 times?

American Tradition Partnership Executive Director Donald Ferguson released the following statement Friday afternoon:

I'm surprised to read Attorney General Steve Bullock claim he will not accept contributions above the unconstitutional $630 limit.  Back when the contribution law was in force he violated it and other campaign finance laws at least 18 times. 

Why did Bullock wait until the law was overturned to suddenly decide he'll stop breaking it?

American Tradition Partnership follows every applicable law to the letter.  Every case we have ever brought has eventually been settled in our favor.  The law and the Constitution are always on our side.

But when it comes to breaking Montana's campaign finance laws, Steve Bullock is a virtual Al Capone. Make no mistake.  Steve Bullock is one of the most corrupt public officials in the United States.

According to sworn, documented complaints filed with the Commissioner of Political Practices:

* Bullock pocketed contributions from the Pfizer drug company corporate PAC on Apr. 27, 2009, June 10, 2011 and June 4, 2012 that totaled far above the legal limit, by nearly 50 percent. (Tuininga v. Bullock)

* Bullock pocketed corporate PAC cash from British-based GlaxoSmithKline on Dec. 15, 2009, Aug. 1, 2011 and June 4, 2012 that totaled twice the legal limit. (Tuininga v. Bullock)

* Bullock pocketed primary election contributions from the Endo drug company corporate PAC on May 16, 2012 at twice the legal limit. (Tuininga v. Bullock)

(It should be noted Bullock was supposed to be negotiating with these drug companies on price-fixing allegations while taking that cash.)

* Bullock received a $300.00 check from the GFEA union PAC, on Mar. 16, 2011.  GFEA is not a legal PAC, therefore Bullock accepted an illegal contribution. (Tuininga v. Bullock)

* Bullock took illegal contributions from the BFFL 521 union PAC, on May 16, 2012 that were more than double the legal limit. (Tuininga v. Bullock)

* Bullock also took $1,260.00 in funds from the MEA MFT COPE union PAC on February 1, 2012, that is also twice the legal limit. (Tuininga v. Bullock)

* Bullock did the same thing, which is again illegal, when he pocketed the same amounts from the HEA union PAC on June 4, 2012. (Tuininga v. Bullock)

* Bullock took funds at the legal limit from the Montana Public Employees Association PAC, on April 9, 2012, but then accepted an additional $500 – which is illegal – just weeks later on May 31. (Tuininga v. Bullock)

* Bullock took $600 from the "Rent-A-Center, Inc. Good Government Committee" PAC, the corporate PAC of Rent-A-Center, on June 30, 2011.  Bullock then received an additional $660 on Apr. 13, 2012, which is above the legal limit both cumulatively and as an individual gift.  Bullock also reported it as coming from the "RAC Good Government Committee" to make it appear to be a different donor. (Olson v. Swope)

* Bullock pocketed $630 from Glacier PAC on Mar. 11, 2012 that was legally designated for the general election, but Bullock reported it for the primary (Tuininga v. Bullock)  That allows him to later solicit an illegal contribution.

* Bullock took two contributions from the Swiss-based Holcim corporation PAC totaling $620.  Holcim wrote two checks, $310 for the primary and $310 for the general but Bullock reported them both for the primary (Tuininga v. Bullock).  That allows him to later solicit an illegal contribution.

* Bullock pocketed contributions from The Home Depot corporate PAC totaling $1,260 on Dec. 14, 2011 for the primary election. (Tuininga v. Bullock)  That is twice the legal limit.

* Bullock also did the same thing with Lowe's corporate PAC on June 5, 2012 (Tuininga v. Bullock)

* Bullock took $310 from Publishers Clearing House, which is a corporation and not a PAC. (Swope v. Bullock) Corporate donations are expressly illegal.

* Bullock took three checks from "Citizens for Responsible Government - Employees of MSE," one for $300 on May 12, 2011, one for $300 on Dec. 7, 2011 and one for $660 just a week later on Dec. 14, 2011.  (Swope v. Bullock) The legal limit for a PAC is $630, putting Bullock over the legal limit by $600.

* Bullock took $600 from McDaniel Leadership PAC, which is not registered with the OPP.  It also appears to be a corporation out of Arkansas (Swope v. Bullock)

* Bullock reported spending just $15 dollars for a room at the Big Sky Resort on Jan. 15, 2012.  (Swope v. Bullock) Rooms cost well over $100 a night, therefore Montana law requires the difference should have been reported as a contribution to Bullock, which he failed to do.  Additionally, corporate contributions are also illegal.

American Tradition Partnership follows every applicable law to the letter. 

Steve Bullock habitually breaks the law, then tries to cover it up with phony allegations against others that are always thrown out of court.

Instead of false accusations and phony charges against law-abiding citizens Bullock should stop breaking the laws he's supposed to enforce.

Harry Reid makes up fake Boston Globe quote, insists it's a 'typo' that's 'true'

In a story on immigration policy, the Boston Globe reported Tuesday Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney "said he would honor deportation exemptions" issued by Obama. 

So why did Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid send out a press release at taxpayer expense claiming the Globe instead reported Romney "said he would not honor deportation exemptions?"

That's not just a lie and a deliberate doctoring a newspaper's reporting, it's the complete opposite of what the paper actually reported. 

Caught doctoring a newspaper's reporting and using taxpayer funds to send out fraudulent releases, Reid's office amazingly called the completely fabricated statement a "typo."

Yes, completely faking a newspaper quote to lie about their reporting is a "typo."

But the psychosis doesn't stop there.

They then them claimed the completely made-up statement was still "true," despite having already admitted it was wrong.

Reid's office eventually went back and removed the quotations marks and changed the sentence, but it still claims "Romney staff told the Boston Globe he would not honor deportation exemptions."

That is still a completely made-up and fictional statement that is the complete opposite of what the Globe reported, but it gets him out of legal trouble with the Globe.

Rand Paul: Breaking news in the fight to overturn Roe v. Wade

I love the good folks at the National Pro-Life Alliance, and so does Rand Paul.

You will too.

Dear Concerned American,

I've prepared a brief but urgent video regarding breaking news in the fight to overturn Roe v. Wade in our nation.

Please take a moment to listen to my urgent message by clicking here.

After you listen, please sign the petition to finally end abortion on demand.

Sincerely,

Rand Paul,
U.S. Senator (R-KY)

Obama economy continues to crumble as factory orders drop, jobless claims rise

"Orders placed with U.S. factories fell in August by the most in more than three years," Bloomberg News reports.  And "(t)he number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments rose last week..."

The facts speak for themselves, as Americans find their economic fortunes getting worse under Obama.

"The 5.2 percent decrease in bookings was the biggest since January 2009 and followed a revised 2.6 percent increase in July, the Commerce Department said today in Washington...Demand for durable goods dropped 13.2 percent..."

"The drop in factory orders was paced by a 101.8 percent plunge in demand for commercial aircraft, the same as reported last week, and a 3.4 percent drop in computers and electrical equipment, today’s Commerce Department report showed."

That's not all, as the economy continues to crumble under Obama.

"Applications for jobless benefits increased 4,000 to 367,000 in the week ended Sept. 29..."
Employers face a tidal wave of tax hikes on January 1, and an even bigger crush of regulations and tax hikes should Obama be re-elected.

ATP offers debate reaction on Obama's failed $90 billion Green Giveaways

American Tradition Partnership Executive Director Donald Ferguson released the following statement Wednesday night after the first Presidential Debate:

Tonight's Americans learned more about Obama's disastrous $90 billion tax giveaway to failing wind and solar experiment -- a taxpayer-backed giveaway to corporate lobbyists that has destroyed tens of thousands of jobs.

Whether it's bailing out his campaign financiers in California with a half-billion Solyndra program or his failed loans to Fisker, Beacon Power, Ener1 or other doomed experiment, so-called "green" energy is nothing more than a scheme to funnel taxpayer money into the pockets of rich people with good lobbyists.

Meanwhile Obama is cutting off access to job-providing oil and gas on federal lands and offshore, blocking the Keystone pipeline and sending his EPA goons after safe, clean fracking.

We even have to export our coal to power China's growing economy because Obama's EPA is blocking its use here and shutting down power plants.

Americans deserve good jobs and affordable, reliable energy.  Taxpayer-subsidized wind and solar experiments fail that test, and whomever wins should cut off all taxpayer funding to wind and solar welfare programs.

ATP legal victory means no limits on Montana political contributions!

HELENA, MT -- American Tradition Partnership won another victory for free speech Wednesday when U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell ruled in favor of the group and other plaintiffs, tossing out Montana’s political contribution limits as unconstitutionally low.

There are now no limits on contributions to state political candidates by individuals, party committees and PACs.

“The old contributions limits were so low candidates had no choice but to grovel before special interests to get elected,” said ATP Montana Director Doug Lair. “When you a candidate can only raise $160 at a time, it guarantees newspapers and union bosses will control elections. Now individual citizens can speak freely without limits or fear of prosecution.”

“The First Amendment is clear. The political establishment can’t tell citizens to shut up because they’ve reached their speech limit,” said Lair. “Low contribution limits make it virtually impossible for a citizen candidate to defeat an entrenched incumbent, which is why politicians love contribution limits. When Congress established contribution limits to federal candidates in 1974, the rate of incumbents losing re-election was cut in half.”

“Judge Lovell stood up for the people of Montana and allowed them to speak without limits slapped on them by corrupt politicians.”

The suit by ATP overturned:

Montana’s individual contribution limit to candidates of $630 to the gubernatorial ticket, $310 to candidates for statewide office and $160 for candidates to other office

Limits on contributions to candidates by political party committees of $22,600 to the gubernatorial ticket, $8,150 to candidates for statewide office, $3,260 to candidates for Public Service Commission, $1,300 to candidates for State Senate and $800 to candidates for other offices.

Limits on contributions to candidates by political action committees of $630 to the gubernatorial ticket, $310 to candidates for statewide office and $160 for candidates to other office.

The case was Lair v. Murray, CV 12-12-H-CCL.

White House representative: The Jews did 9/11

"President Obama’s representatives to an ongoing international human rights meeting in Poland include on man who suspects Israel of playing a role in the September 11 terrorist attacks," The Washington Examiner's Joel Gehrke reports.

"Salam Al-Marayati, head of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, called for the United States to investigate Israel for a possible hand in bringing down the World Trade Center towers," reports Gerhke.

”If we’re going to look at suspects, we should look to the groups that benefit the most from these kinds of incidents, and I think we should put the state of Israel on the suspect list because I think this diverts attention from what’s happening in the Palestinian territories so that they can go on with their aggression and occupation and apartheid policies,” The New York Times quotes Marayati as saying in October 2001.

Obama's hand-picked human rights representative also praised the 1983 Beirut bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks that killed 241 Marines, saying it was "the kind of attack that Americans might have lauded had it been directed against Washington’s enemies."

Read the report here.

Inhofe calls for Senate probe of EPA's illegal human experiments

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) issued this press release today calling for an investigation of illegal EPA human experiments uncovered by American Tradition Institute.

In the wake of the Obama – Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) being sued in federal court for allegedly conducting illegal human experiments – exposing people to concentrated high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and diesel exhaust – Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, wrote a letter to Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, to request that the committee hold hearings to get to the bottom of what exactly happened at EPA.

“It is extremely disturbing that EPA may have conducted illegal human experiments, exposing people with conditions such as asthma and metabolic syndrome to concentrated high levels of substances like fine particulate matter and diesel exhaust,” Senator Inhofe said. “EPA has repeatedly said that these substances can cause cancer and lead to death so if these allegations of human experiments are true, it just validates the problem that the Obama-EPA’s mission is not about public health.

“I am calling on Senator Boxer to hold hearings on this matter immediately when Congress returns. As the Committee of oversight over EPA, it is crucial that we get to the bottom of this and hold EPA accountable.”

Obama's 'green' energy zaps the poor

Washington Examiner senior editorial writer Phillip Klien writes today, in part:

Last week, Examiner columnist and Manhattan Institute fellow Diana Furchtgott-Roth, author of the new book “Regulating to Disaster: How Green Jobs Policies Are Damaging America’s Economy,” explained that:

Most people think green is good but pay little attention to associated increases in costs. In 2015, it will cost between $49 and $79 to generate one megawatt hour of electricity from natural gas. A megawatt hour from onshore wind will cost between $75 and $138, and from solar photovoltaic will cost between $242 and $455.

As her book demonstrates in this chart, rising costs of energy hit lower income Americans the hardest, because they spend a higher proportion of their incomes on energy:

Obama overturns U.S. law, sells weapons to kidnappers of child soldiers

"(F)or the third year in a row, Obama has waived almost all U.S. sanctions that would punish certain countries that use child soldiers, upsetting many in the human rights community," Foreign Policy magazine reports.

"Late Friday afternoon, Obama issued a presidential memorandum waiving penalties under the Child Soldiers Protection Act of 2008 for Libya, South Sudan, and Yemen, penalties that Congress put in place to prevent U.S. arms sales to countries determined by the State Department to be the worst abusers of child soldiers in their militaries. The president also partially waived sanctions against the Democratic Republic of the Congo to allow some military training and arms sales to that country."

"After such a strong statement against the exploitation of children, it seems bizarre that Obama would give a pass to countries using children in their armed forces and using U.S. tax money to do that," Jesse Eaves, the senior policy advisor for child protection at World Vision, tells FP.

Obama's decision to arm child kidnappers undermines the work of the international community, which has been working to disarm and arrest warlords who kidnap and force children to fight to the death -- using weapons supplied by Barack Obama.

Team Arabia! Maaaaatt Daaaaamon joins Arab royals in attack on US economy

Matt Damon’s portrayal in “Team America” as a dim-witted tool of anti-American interests appears to have been more fact than fiction.

“A new film starring Matt Damon presents American oil and natural gas producers as money-grubbing villains purportedly poisoning rural American towns. It is therefore of particular note that it is financed in part by the royal family of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates,” The Heritage Foundation’s Lachlan Markey reveals.

“While left-leaning Hollywood often targets supposed environmental evildoers, Promised Land was also produced “in association with” Image Media Abu Dhabi, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media, according to the preview’s list of credits. A spokesperson with DDA Public Relations, which runs PR for Participant Media, the company that developed the film fund backing Promised Land, confirmed that AD Media is a financier. The company is wholly owned by the government of the UAE.”

The movie presents numerous fictionalized, debunked attacks on fracking.  It was produced with the intention to cripple the United States’ fast-growing natural gas economy.

That would be a financial windfall for Arab nations, as it would leave a weaker United States dependent on foreign oil and natural gas.

The fact is Matt Damon took Arab money with the intent to make the United States weaker and subservient to the Middle East.

Man in googly cheese hat and Hawaiian shirt describes accident with man with 0.52 BAC

FWPD: Driver in multiple car crash had BAC of .52%

Incomes worse under Obama than during recession

"New figures from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, compiled by Sentier Research, show that the typical American household’s real (inflation-adjusted) income has actually dropped 5.7 percent during the Obama 'recovery,'" The Weekly Standard reports.

"Using constant 2012 dollars (to adjust for inflation), the median annual income of American households was $53,718 as of June 2009, the last month of the recession.  Now, after 38 months of this 'recovery,' it has fallen to $50,678 — a drop of $3,040 per household."

How bad is the Obama economy? 

Family incomes are falling more than twice as fast under Obama than they did during the recession.

"From the start to the end of the recession, the real median income of American households fell $1,413, or 2.6 percent.  From the end of the recession to the present day, it has dropped $3,040, or 5.7 percent," the Standard reports.

Bullock slammed for opposing 4,300 new jobs, $92 million a year for schools

"Gubernatorial hopefuls Steve Bullock and Rick Hill clashed Thursday night over who would do a better job developing Montana’s natural resources and bolstering education, sharpening their tone in their second debate of the campaign season," Helena Independent Record reporter Mike Dennison reports.

"'I am a strong advocate for natural-resource development in Montana, and the reason I am is that we are second-to-last in this country in terms of what we earn in salaries and wages,' Hill told an overflow crowd at the Montana Tech auditorium in Butte. 'There is no reason, with all the wealth we have in this state, that we’re next-to-last in take-home pay.'"

The University of Montana’s Bureau of Business & Economic Research reports Montana's $1.4 trillion Otter Creek coal tracts would provide 4,300 jobs and $92 million a year in tax revenue for schools and other services.  Bullock pandered to the wealthy Sierra Club by voting against developing them.

"Hill used his question to attack Bullock’s record on coal development, asking why Bullock failed to join 24 state attorneys general from coal-producing states this year when they challenged new Environmental Protection Agency rules Hill said would harm coal-fired power plants."

Obama shuts down two Okla. power plants, forces 11% rate increase

"AEP-PSO will spend $350 million to satisfy federal air quality rules in a plan that includes shutting down two coal-fired generation units and upgrading emission controls on three natural gas-fired plants in the next 14 years," The Tulsa World reports.

"...company officials estimated that base utility rates may eventually need to rise about 11 percent to recover the compliance costs."

Other Oklahoma utilities have been forced to sue Obama to try and stay afloat.

"Oklahoma Gas and Electric, the state's largest utility, is continuing its legal battle against the EPA over the rules.  In April, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt filed suit against the new EPA rules on behalf of OG&E. Utilities argued that the EPA was too aggressive in its timeline to enforce the regional haze rules."

Rangers will learn League Cup foe on Thursday

Rangers will discover who they will face in the last eight of the Scottish League Cup when the draw is made on Thursday, October 4 at 1:30 p.m. local time, the club's Andrew Dickson reports.

The remaining seven clubs are Premier League sides Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Hearts, Inverness, St Johnstone and St Mirren.  Rangers are the first Third Division side in the quarter-finals since Ross County in 1998.

Oddsmakers have Rangers as second favorites to win the League Cup.  Rangers have won the league cup 27 times, in 1947, 1949, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2011.

"The draw for the next stage of the Scottish Cup, meanwhile, will take place this coming Monday morning (October 1) at Hamilton Racecourse," the club reports.

"Rangers will hope to be in the hat after their second round trip north to face Highland League champions Forres Mechanics at Mosset Park this weekend."

Texas Attorney General defends Kountze free speech

September 27, 2012

Mr. Kevin Weldon
Superintendent
Kountze Independent School District
P.O. Box 460
Kountze, TX 77625

Dear Superintendent Weldon:

I write to offer my assistance and to provide advice about a menacing and misleading letter you recently received from an organization called the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). That organization has a long history of attempting to bully school districts into adopting restrictive religious speech policies that go well beyond what is required by the United States Constitution. Consistent with that history, the letter you received incorrectly claims that allowing Kountze High School cheerleaders to display banners decorated with Bible verses at football games amounts to a “serious and flagrant violation of the First Amendment.” That exaggerated claim is not supported by the Constitution. Instead, it is based solely on FFRF’s distorted, anti-religion view of the First Amendment, a view that is unsupported by court precedent and has recently been rejected by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

It appears that your recent decision to prohibit the cheerleaders at Kountze High from displaying their religious messages at football games—a decision that has since been blocked by a court order—was based on a mistaken belief that FFRF’s letter correctly interprets the law. Unfortunately, that mistaken belief was apparently reinforced by erroneous advice from the Texas Association of School Boards. Contrary to FFRF’s claims, however, the Supreme Court has never held that it is illegal for a public school to “host religious messages at school athletic events.” And the Supreme Court has never ruled that religion must be “kept out” of public schools. Instead, each of the Supreme Court cases cited in FFRF’s letter involve decisions by public officials to promote a religious message or to direct the content of a private citizen’s religious message.

Unlike the cases cited by FFRF, Kountze ISD has neither made the decision to include a religious message on the cheerleaders’ banner, nor provided any direction as to the content of the cheerleaders’ message. Rather, news reports indicate that these decisions were made entirely by students. Those same news reports also indicate that the banners were made by the cheerleaders off of school property and without the use of school funds. That these students chose to express their religious viewpoint at a school function does not violate the Establishment Clause.

When the school district does not join in the students’ religious message or seek to control or direct that message, the cheerleaders’ decision to display their banners cannot constitute promotion or imposition of religion by the school district. Rather, the banners are the religious speech of individual students, which enjoys protection under the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment.

In addition to the protections afforded by the First Amendment, Texas law further protects students’ free exercise of religion by requiring school districts to “treat a student’s voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint . . . in the same manner the district treats a student’s voluntary expression of a secular or other viewpoint.” Tex. Educ. Code § 25.151. Moreover, a school district “may not discriminate against the student based on a religious viewpoint expressed by the student on an otherwise permissible subject.” Id. To the extent the district seeks to prevent the cheerleaders from displaying their banners because the cheerleaders decided to express a religious—as opposed to a secular—message, it may very well violate section 25.151 of the Texas Education Code.

Think about it: Can a school district or the Freedom From Religion Foundation stop a student from making the sign of the cross before taking a test, or stop football players from pointing toward heaven after scoring a touchdown or kneeling to pray for an injured teammate? Of course not. Just like the cheerleaders’ banners, such public displays of religion are voluntary expressions of the students’ beliefs and are not attributable to the school district.

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently vindicated these legal principles—and rejected FFRF’s restrictive view of the First Amendment—in a case involving Medina Valley ISD in Castroville, Texas. In May 2011, a group called Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a lawsuit against Medina Valley in an attempt to prevent student speakers from praying as part of their speech at their graduation ceremony. My office supported the school district by arguing that the First Amendment does not require public schools to interfere with students’ right to freely express their religious beliefs. A unanimous panel of three federal appeals judges ruled in favor of the school district and permitted Medina Valley High School seniors to pray at their graduation ceremony. The appeals court explained that there was no showing that the “prayers or other remarks to be given by students at graduation are, in fact, school-sponsored.” The same is true here: The cheerleaders are expressing their own beliefs, not those of the school district. Just as Americans United for Separation of Church and State was wrong in Castroville, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is wrong in Kountze.

As the United States Supreme Court has observed, “[w]e are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being.” Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306, 313 (1952). And as the Fifth Circuit’s Medina Valley ruling demonstrates, school districts that allow students to speak freely about their religious beliefs have the Constitution on their side. A school district’s policies regarding student expressions of religious belief should be guided by the educational goals of the district and an appropriate respect for students’ freedoms of speech and religion—not by threatening letters that misstate the law and distort the First Amendment.

If you decide to allow the cheerleaders of Kountze High to freely display their chosen message on their banners at football games, and if the Freedom From Religion Foundation or any other group sues Kountze ISD as a result, my office stands ready to file a brief with the court protecting the cheerleaders' religious liberties.

Sincerely,

Greg Abbott

Attorney General of Texas

NAGR: Holder's whitewash

Dear patriot,

Seventeen years ago, current U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said government must “brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way.”

Fast forward to 2009 when he was nominated and confirmed as President Obama’s Attorney General, Holder was unleashed, setting out on a path to do just what he suggested . . .

. . . brainwash the American people into supporting gun control.

In February of that year, after taking over as Attorney General, Holder said the Obama Administration supported a new so-called “assault weapons ban.” Hillary Clinton also publicly stated the administration would “work hard” to pass the UN “Small Arms Treaty.”

At that time, Holder blamed American gun laws for violence occurring in Mexico.

Shortly thereafter, the ATF’s gun-smuggling operation, “Fast & Furious,” began in earnest.

“Fast & Furious” was exactly what Holder needed to convince the American people that gun control laws should be passed and signed into law.



By placing hundreds of weapons into the hands of members of Mexican drug cartels, who would then commit murder with these weapons, Holder had just the evidence to sway public opinion to support gun control.

But when at least two American border agents and hundreds of Mexican civilians ended up brutally murdered with the ATF’s smuggled weapons, Holder’s “Fast & Furious” charade was exposed.

For nearly two years, the members and supporters of the National Association for Gun Rights have led the charge to hold Eric Holder accountable for his role in “Fast & Furious.”

The 1.4-million members and supporters of NAGR made their voices heard on Capitol Hill using email, hand-written letters, petitions and phone calls.

Make no mistake about it, Congress was forced to take action due to grassroots pressure applied by NAGR gun rights activists.

For months, Holder bobbed and weaved his way through Congressional hearings, refusing to turn over papers and correspondence on the issue, even getting caught on at least one occasion with inconsistent statements about his knowledge of “Fast & Furious.”

Ultimately, Holder’s refusal to turn over all relevant documents led to his censure by the U.S. Congress.



Without your consistent application of grassroots pressure, it’s very likely “Fast & Furious” would be nothing more than a blip on the radar of Washington history.

With that said, a new report is out from the Department of Justice’s Inspector General indicating that at least one White House official refused to talk and the White House released ZERO communications related to “Fast & Furious.”

And just this past week, one of Holder’s high-ranking Justice Department officials resigned and one retired, in addition to the head of the ATF, Kenneth Melson, resigning in recent months.

Holder’s “inner circle” was intimately aware of “Fast & Furious,” and, quite clearly, a number of them have become the fall-men.

The fact is, despite your enormous grassroots pressure to investigate and fire Eric Holder, the whitewash of his involvement in this deadly scandal is in full effect.



Not only has Mr. Holder managed to stay in office as Attorney General but he and the Obama Administration will be emboldened -- win or lose on November 6 -- to seek a new so-called “assault weapons ban,” ammo ban, magazine ban and other direct attacks on our gun rights.

The gun control threat will become even more dangerous when Congress reconvenes after the election.

Your continued involvement and activism is vital to protecting our right to keep and bear arms.

I’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date on any new gun rights developments.

For Freedom,

Dudley Brown
Executive Vice President

P.S. If you are passionate about protecting our right to keep and bear arms, please consider chipping in $10 or $20 today.

No warming: NASA admits Arctic ice loss due to storms, Antarctic ice sets record

"In a September 18 video posted by NASA on its website, they admit that the Arctic cyclone, which began on August 1, “wreaked havoc on the Arctic sea ice cover” by “breaking up sea ice,” Marc Moreno reports.  (NASA story here)

"Global warming activists have been giddy in their hyping of the satellite era record low Arctic sea ice extent while ignoring the satellite record sea ice expansion in the Antarctic."

"Reuters news service filed a September 21 report based on NASA’s video admission titled: “NASA says Arctic cyclone played ‘key role’ in record ice melt.” The news segment details how the Arctic sea ice was reduced due to “a powerful cyclone that scientists say ‘wreaked havoc’ on ice cover during the month of August.” (Reuters on “Arctic Cyclone” — 0:47 second long segment — Rob Muir reporting.)"

Meanwhile, the Antarctic ice is growing rapidly, something that doesn't happen in "global warming."

So rapidly, in fact, it's the most sea ice ever recorded at either pole. 

Generally the planet averages between 15 and 23 million square kilometers of sea ice.  Right now we have 18 million, which is 1 million more than the seasonal average.