RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/303523/executive-privilege-congress-andrew-c-mccarthy

As you would expect, my buddy Shannen provides an excellent outline of the law of executive privilege. I do not take issue with what he explains, because it very accurately conveys the privilege as it has evolved over time. My dispute is with the underlying assumptions about the privilege, particularly with respect to the “deliberative process” aspect of it, which, as Shannen observes, rests on less solid footing than the “presidential communications” aspect.

Just as there are two species of executive privilege, so there are two species of governance within the executive branch. The first involves the president’s constitutional duties. These are broadly laid out in Article II. They involve powers of the presidency that derive directly from the Constitution. Congress may not repeal, reduce, or subject them to regulation or “oversight” that thwarts the president’s ability to carry them out.

That is why I agree the “presidential communications” aspect of executive privilege is the stronger one — and why, for example, I argued that Congress had no power to compel Karl Rove to testify during the controversy over fired U.S. attorneys. Karl was a senior advisor to President Bush, a member of the White House staff whose position was not subject to Senate confirmation or otherwise dependent on Congress. He served at the pleasure of the president to facilitate the performance of the president’s constitutional duties. In this sense, he was an appendage of Pres. Bush, and Congress could no more compel him to testify than compel the president. The president is a peer, not a subordinate, of Congress; Congress does not have the power to demand testimony from the president or his confidants — at least not on matters that involve presidential communications in the execution of the president’s constitutional duties.

http://pjmedia.com/andrewmccarthy/2012/06/20/the-plot-thickens-obama-asserts-executive-privilege-to-block-fast-furious-disclosures/

The Obama administration has a narrative about Fast & Furious. The Wall Street Journal obligingly reported it this morning, as follows:

The gun-walking tactics in Fast and Furious turned up in earlier ATF cases, during the Bush administration. When they were uncovered by Justice officials in the Obama administration, a top Justice official raised concerns with ATF officials, according to Justice documents released last year. But the officials never alerted Mr. Holder, didn’t do enough to prevent similar cases and weren’t aware the operation was under way until months later, according to Justice documents.

Mr. Holder, in a letter last week to Mr. Issa, said, “The record in this matter reflects that until allegations about the inappropriate tactics used in Fast and Furious were made public, department leadership was unaware of those tactics.”

There are a variety of reasons to be skeptical of this version of events. To name only two:

(a) there were wiretaps in the F&F investigation, and when the government seeks a wiretap, federal law requires it to explain what investigative tactics have been used in the case, an explanation that is vetted by top DOJ officials because the government cannot apply for the wiretap without the approval of the attorney general or his designee (a high Justice Department official) — it seems highly unlikely, assuming DOJ complied with wiretap law, that top Justice Department officials did not know about the gun-walking tactic until late in the game; and

(b) the gun-walking tactic — which in F&F involved providing well over a thousand firearms to violent criminals — was shocking, and it is hard to believe that if “Justice officials” knew enough to raise their concerns with the ATF brass, they failed to alert Attorney General Holder or follow through to make sure ATF and the U.S. attorney’s office — both arms of the Justice Department — stopped the tactic.

Candidate, candidates, everywhere you look. They need to confront real issues not just bash Obama and the Dems. So much in our country needs repair.

Here is a terrific suggestion from a brilliant e-pal Harold Weinstein:
“And while you are at it, do away with the idea that every child has to have a college degree in order to succeed. Trade schools might prove to be a quicker way to prosperity without the burden of those student loans.”

Right Now 24|7
French TV: Al Qaeda suspect holding hostages in bank
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Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz1yKiL0Jax

Green job numbers based on models, not data
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An Obama administration green jobs grant program that spent $11 billion lacks a verifiable job-counting system and likely created only a fraction of the jobs it claims, according to a staff report by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Read more…

Palins go reality: Todd and Bristol on TV series
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AM I THE ONLY ONE TIRED OF THE PALINS?….RSK
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Palins go reality: Todd and Bristol on TV series
The Palins are fast becoming America’s first family of reality TV. On the same day Bristol Palin’s new reality show made its debut, NBC announced that father Todd will be taking part in a military-themed competition series Stars Earn Stripes. Read more…

Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz1yKi1PMFp
icans’ confidence in public schools hits new low
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Americans’ confidence in public schools is down five percentage points from last year, with 29% expressing “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in them. Read more…
‘Color Purple’ author refuses Hebrew edition’s release
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Writer Alice Walker says an Israeli publisher can’t release a new Hebrew edition of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Color Purple,” because of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people. Read more…
Florida lawmaker sees anti-U.N. bill gaining support
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Expect a bill that shelters private property in Florida from takeover by a United Nations-led world government effort, Senate President-designate Don Gaetz said Tuesday. And expect that bill to receive favorable support. Read more…

Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz1yKia352i

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/06/20/north-carolina-democrats-mobilize-against-israel/print/

Apparently the North Carolina Democratic Party hasn’t gotten the endlessly repeated “memo” regarding the Obama administration’s “unwavering support” for the state of Israel. During last weekend’s party convention, a resolution that would criticize Israel for its “illegal occupation of Palestine” was seriously considered before being tabled. Not killed — tabled. It has been referred to the state’s executive committee for further consideration at a later date.

Resolution number 26, titled “Bring a Just Peace to the Middle East: Israel and Palestine,” is a screed of leftist-inspired grievances, attacking the United States for providing Israel with “$3 billion annually in military aid.” According to North Carolina Democrats, such funds pay for “the Israeli occupation, disenfranchisement and impoverishment of significant numbers of the Palestinian population,” and the facilitation of “Israel’s overwhelming military might and its role as the only nuclear power.” That military might ostensibly threatens the “stability in a region witnessing increased demands for democracy and an end to autocratic rule.” The funding is also used by Israel to “continue … demolition of Palestinian homes, expansion of existing illegal settlements built on expropriated Palestinian land, and a continued blockade of essential goods from Gaza, causing a U.N. documented humanitarian crisis.”

Furthermore, U.S. aid “has caused increased violence and insecurity to Israelis and Palestinians and helps subvert any prospect for peace,” while “Israel’s human rights violations and its illegal settlements violate International and U.S. law, including the U.S. Arms Export Control Act of 1976,” all of which contributes to the “escalating tension between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab world in the Middle East.” Such Israeli-instigated tension “threatens the peace and stability of the region and the world.”

Thus, the NC Democratic Party expects to hold its elected officials accountable “for helping end our government’s role in continuing the Israeli Palestinian tragedy by making the human rights of both peoples central to U.S. foreign policy by ending Israel’s illegal occupation, by advocating for a viable Palestinian state, and membership of that state in the United Nations.”

North Carolina Democrats then urged their congressional representatives to support several initiatives (emphasis added): “Bring all parties, including Hamas, to the table to negotiate and end to the Israeli Occupation and a secure peace based on the 1967 borders; An immediate end to settlement expansion and removal of existing settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem; An end to Palestinian house demolitions; A halt to further construction of the wall; An end to the Gaza blockade; The establishment of the nuclear free zone in the Middle East; Redirecting U.S. Military aid to Israel to promote social and economic development for peace in both Israel and Palestine.”

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/06/20/death-of-a-muslim-honor-killer/print/ In 1992, Abdul Awkal, a Lebanese Muslim, met up with his wife and her brother at the Family Conciliation Office in the sprawling Lakeside Courthouse. Awkal’s wife had filed for divorce after years of physical abuse and a sexually transmitted disease that she contracted from him. In response, Awkal had bought a gun and […]

URL to article: http://pjmedia.com/spengler/2012/06/19/america-should-bet-on-berlin-not-the-basket-cases/

Rarely has the establishment been so unified, and misguided, in its ever-more-frantic efforts to promote a Euro bailout. Today’s Daily News Brief from the Council on Foreign Relations writes:

G20 leaders, meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico yesterday, urged European members to jumpstart growth in the beleaguered eurozone (al-Jazeera) by easing austerity measures and allowing the European Central Bank to play a more active role. A draft of the G20′s official statement, to be finalized and published later today, called on members to “take the necessary actions to strengthen global growth, amid increased concern that the eurozone sovereign debt crisis could plunge the global economy back into recession.”

The CFR highlights the following items:

“Since the euro crisis has escalated, the chancellor [Angela Merkel] has been more isolated than ever before. Everyone, from U.S. President Barack Obama to French President François Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron to Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, together with an army of international economists, financial experts and journalists, is demanding that the Germans take on a greater financial burden,” notes Der Spiegel.

“But a eurozone collapse would be a disaster that might define our era. Its prospect must focus the minds of all at the G20 summit on action. Non-Europeans must persuade Europeans that the rules change when the stakes rise. The ECB’s credibility will mean little if there is no longer a common currency,” writes Lawrence Summers for the Financial Times.

“With the global economy again weakening, we need a strong G-20 now more than ever. The leaders of the world should take the opportunity of their meeting in Los Cabos to put aside political incentives and do what is best to ignite the global economy. By setting real membership standards, world leaders could build a better G-20, one capable of facing the challenges ahead,” Alex M. Brill and James K. Glassman for the Wall Street Journal.

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Read more: Family Security Matters http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/#ixzz1yKcUaT2b
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

http://www.thejlc.org/2012/06/lunch-with-king-of-jordan/ Earlier today leaders of the UK Jewish community held a meeting with His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Hosted by Mick Davis, Chairman of the Trustees of the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) and United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA), the lunch meeting came following recent constructive […]

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/us-russia-from-reset-to-regret

There’s little doubt from the reporting of the lackluster meeting between President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 in Mexico yesterday that the White House’s Russia policy is moving from “reset” to “regret.”Of course, we’ve seen this coming for awhile – despite lots of wishful thinking on the administration’s part.

Team Obama’s hope over the last three-plus years has been that Russia would become a partner of the United States on a range of international issues if ties could only be “reset,” pruning away thorny tensions that have grown in the relationship.In other words, if we could just get relations chummy enough, the Kremlin and the White House would become a dynamic duo, tackling a growing list of world problems.

So much for that plan.

One key focus of the “reset” policy was getting Russia to help stop Iran’s expanding nuclear (weapons) program. While supporting some added pressure on Tehran, Moscow hasn’t really come on board.

This week’s P5+1 meeting (the latest in a seemingly endless series) in Moscow on Iranian nukes probably won’t change that.

In fact, after the supposed “reset,” Russia finished building Iran’s first nuclear reactor and provided fuel for it. If Tehran doesn’t return the fuel rods, it could reprocess them for plutonium, providing another avenue for making nukes.

The Russians have been continually cranky about US-led missile defense in Europe, too, seeing it as being aimed at their nuclear deterrent rather than at the growing Iranian missile threat.