Cleaning Up Obama’s Mess in the Gulf
BigGovernment.com
Posted Jun 30th 2010 at 9:27 am
by Todd Thurman
A lot of things have gone wrong in the last 72 days since oil started spilling into the Gulf, and very few things have gone right. Unfortunately, the oil spilling into the Gulf is only one of many, many problems in the Gulf. There are the obvious problems of extremely polluted water, the oil soaked animals, the oil soaked beaches, the loss of tourism, the loss of jobs, and the loss of faith in the process that is supposed to ensure things like this never happen. But, why hasn’t the oil been cleaned up? Why is the leak still spewing oil into the Gulf? BP has their fair share of blame, but so does the federal government.
The government has had a lot of missteps. The EPA would not allow ships to skim oil from the water because they couldn’t get 100% of the oil out. They could only get 99% of the oil out. They failed to get rid of the horribly outdated Jones Act that forbids foreign vessels from helping us clean up the gulf. There have been plenty of problems with the way the Federal Government has reacted to the oil spill, but it’s never too late to start getting it right.
The Heritage Foundation has put together a list of things the Obama administration can do to mitigate the damage that the oil slick can still do. These are steps that can be taken immediately, and more items will be added to the list when appropriate. Simple things like waiving the Jones Act (as the Bush Administration did during Katrina), or accepting international assistance. Or allowing ships like the S.S. A-Whale–that has the capability to skim 500,000 barrels a day– to immediately start assisting efforts. It’s in the Gulf now, but it is still not being used.
Did the White House interfere with NYT research of Kagan?
Editor’s note: Barack Obama has shielded all of his records from Columbia, Occidental, Harvard, long form birth certificate, etc. Could this be a shielding of this nominee’s radical progressive liberal left background?
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HotAir.com
posted at 2:20 pm on June 30, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
Judicial Watch announced this morning that it has a series of e-mails between the White House and Irving Kagan, the brother of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, that blocked a New York Times reporter from access to him. Sharon Otterman had already made arrangements to sit in on Kagan’s class at Hunter College High School as a way to get some background on Barack Obama’s nominee. As soon as Otterman informed the White House of the arrangement, however, White House media relations officer Joshua Earnest told Kagan to cancel it — and to stop granting media access without checking with the White House:
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from Hunter College High School regarding a White House effort to deny New York Times education reporter Sharon Otterman access to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s brother Irving, who currently teaches at the New York school. Otterman requested and received permission from both the school and Irving Kagan to attend one of Mr. Kagan’s constitutional law classes before White House Deputy Press Secretary Joshua Earnest intervened. “I’m definitely not comfortable with that at this point,” Earnest wrote to Ms. Otterman on May 11, 2010.
Warning: The Constitution is still relevant
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation · http://www.myheritage.org/
214 Massachusetts Ave, NE · Washington, DC 20002 · 800-546-2843
June 11, 2010 | By Amanda J. Reinecker
“The idea that the Constitution is somehow dated and less relevant today is outrageous,” opines The Heritage Foundation’s Brandon Stewart. “The simple, noble principles enshrined in the Constitution have never been more relevant than they are today.” Unfortunately, many on the left have taken issue with this fact.
Consider Wilder Publications, publisher of a recent anthology of Founding texts, including the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. This “book” comes with a printed disclaimer stating that these self-evident truths may not be so true any longer. Reader beware!
This is utterly ridiculous. These ideas are not dangerous; they’re liberating. These values don’t expire; they’re eternal. These truths are not exclusive; they’re universal.
Blago Trial: “I feel like I’ve failed…like I’m in a bad place.”
Liveshots – Foxnews.com
June 30, 2010 – 10:49 AM | by: Marla Cichowski
During testimony this morning the jury listened to several new phone calls between Rod Blagojevich and political consultant, Doug Scofield.
During one call from November 5, 2008 Blagojevich is dissecting Barack Obama’s big presidential win the day before. Blagojevich asks his political consultant, Doug Scofield,”there’s nothing I couldve done about Obama, right? Nothing that wouldve scared him off?” meaning there’s nothing Blagojevich could’ve done to prevent Barack Obama from running for President and winning.
Blagojevich was extremely jealous and angry about Obama’s political success because Blagojevich always wanted to run for President. On the phone call, Blagojevich says “I feel like I failed….like I’m in a bad place.”
Doug Scofield reassured Blago there was nothing he could’ve done to keep Barack Obama from running and called Obamas win a ” crazy combination of timing, fate and luck.”
The two men then started talking about Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and how she “couldn’t close the deal.”
Blagojevich admitted he was better off with “this guy living as king,”referring to President Obama.
Doug Scofield says after election day Blago talked about appointing himself as US Senator “a lot” but when Scofield told him it was a bad idea Blago got angry with him. Blago thought it was a ” good idea” and said ” I’m better off with this guy(Obama) winning than McCain”, according to Scofield’s testimony.
Jew-Hater, Anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan blames Jews for Financial Ruin of Blacks
Atlas Shurgs
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
It is so difficult to publish this black nazism, because Farrakhan is a vulture, a vampire who drains the life out of the very people he claims to lead. He destroys and makes a meal of his own people. And he in no way represents decent, hardworking Black America.
Imagine if the American black community had the leadership of Martin Luther King instead of this devil who wants to keep his people uneducated, dependent, angry anti-individualists and anti-capitalists. He is the worst kind of demagogue, sacrificing his own to advance his own evil ambitions.
And Obama counts him as a friend. A White House in decay.
I have no intention of “proving’ the deep love and affection and support that the Jewish people have had for the black community; nor will I cite our fight for civil rights for Black people in America. Throughout the twentieth century we fought, we died, we made it our politics to fight for equal rights for all.
Martin Luther King would spit in the face of Louis Farrakhan and kick him to the curb where he belongs with the rest of the filth. I pray that those who follow this sick and deranged demagogue see this vampire for what he is.
Perhaps this is the only way for a soulless, evil wannabee to get his sullied name into the papers.
Anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan blamed Jews for financial ruin of blacks.
Farrakhan claims Jews for centuries have worked to financially undermine Black people. The Washington Examiner via Gateway
Is This Wealth Redistribution Or Just Corruption? [Reader Post]
FloppingAces.net
Posted by: Skookum @ 2:50 pm, June 29, 2010
More than three billion dollars, packed into suitcases, loaded onto pallets, and declared to the Afghan authorities has been loaded onto airplanes and flown legally out of the country from Kabul International Airport in the last three years.
Officials believe some of the cash, if not most, is siphoned from Western aid projects and U.S., European and NATO contracts to provide security, supplies and reconstruction work for coalition forces in Afghanistan. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization spent about $14 billion here last year alone. Profits reaped from the opium trade are also a part of the money flow, as is cash earned by the Taliban from drugs and extortion, officials say.
The amount declared as it leaves the airport is vast in a nation where the gross domestic product last year totaled $13.5 billion. More declared cash flies out of Kabul each year than the Afghan government collects in tax and customs revenue nationwide. “It’s not like they grow money on trees here,” said a U.S. official investigating corruption and Taliban financing. “A lot of this looks like our tax dollars being stolen. And opium, of course.”
Radicals, Islamists and Longshoremen blockade Israeli ship in Oakland
PajamasMedia.com
June 20, 2010 – by Zombie
The protesters carried Turkish and Palestinian flags. Peace! (A false narrative)
An Israeli cargo ship arriving in Oakland today was forced to sit idle and not offload its containers when longshoremen joined forces with a coalition of communist and Islamist groups who picketed the port in protest against the recent violent incident off the coast of Gaza.
The ship, owned by Zim Lines, was not carrying any controversial cargo, nor is Zim involved in politics in any way; it was targeted simply because the shipping company is based in Israel.
The planned protest and blockade were organized by The Free Palestine Movement (one of the same groups which organized the Gaza “flotilla” in the first place) as well as a rogues’ gallery of nearly every communist, anti-Israel and radical Islamist group in the Bay Area:
Oakland, CA: Join the Labor and Community Picket of an Israeli Zim Lines Ship
Sunday, June 20, 5:30am
Port of Oakland,Berth 57, Middle Harbor Rd.
Protest Israel’s Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla!
Boycott Israeli Ships and Goods!
Lift the Blockade NOW – Let Gaza Live!
Bring Down Israel’s Apartheid Wall!
We call on everyone who stands for justice and against occupation and apartheid to join the June 20 picket at the Port of Oakland. This is a moment of great opportunity. In San Francisco in 1984, a picket line and refusal to unload cargo of a ship carrying South African cargo was a key event in mobilizing the anti-apartheid movement worldwide.Sponsored by: Labor / Community Committee in Solidarity with the People of Palestine:
Arab American Union Members Council, ANSWER- Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, Palestine Youth Network, US Palestine Community Network, Al Awda- Right to Return Coalition, Arab Youth Organization, MECA-Middle East Children’s Alliance, Students for Justice in Palestine, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, International Solidarity Movement, San Jose Peace and Justice Center, International Socialist Organization, Peace and Freedom Party – SF, Transport Workers Solidarity Committee and many labor activists in the Bay Area
However, you wouldn’t know any of this if you had just read the mainstream media’s reportage. For example, the San Francisco Chronicle described the protesters as “peace and labor groups”:
Kagan’s SCOTUS deception to defend partial-birth abortions
HotAir.com
posted at 12:55 pm on June 29, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
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As Elena Kagan attempts to sail through a confirmation process to take her first job as a judge on the nation’s highest court, National Review’s Shannen Coffin discovers one of the reasons why the Clinton Library seemed determined to keep records of her previous work quiet. The issue of partial-birth abortion had raged during the Clinton years, with the President ultimately vetoing a measure by Congress to ban the procedure, but Nebraska banned it on their own. In order to defeat that law, Kagan manipulated a report by a panel from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to fool the Supreme Court into thinking that doctors had supported the idea that it was a medically necessary procedure, when in fact ACOG couldn’t specify a single set of circumstances where it would save the life of the mother:
There is no better example of this distortion of science than the language the United States Supreme Court cited in striking down Nebraska’s ban on partial-birth abortion in 2000. This language purported to come from a “select panel” of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a supposedly nonpartisan physicians’ group. ACOG declared that the partial-birth-abortion procedure “may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of a woman.” The Court relied on the ACOG statement as a key example of medical opinion supporting the abortion method.
Do you think the Republicans’ self-imposed restriction on pork spending will continue?
Washington Times
STEYN: Obama zones out
Search for president’s core uncovers – nothing
By Mark Steyn
6:21 p.m., Friday, June 25, 2010
What do Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal and BP have in common? Aside from the fact that they’re both Democratic Party supporters.
Or they were. Gen. McChrystal is a liberal who voted for President Obama and banned Fox News from his headquarters TV. That may at least partly explain how he became the first U.S. general to be lost in combat while giving an interview to Rolling Stone. They’ll be studying that one in war colleges around the world for decades. The managers of BP were unable to vote for Mr. Obama, being, as we now know, the most sinister, duplicitous bunch of shifty Brits to pitch up offshore since the War of 1812. But, in their “Beyond Petroleum” marketing and beyond, they signed on to every modish nostrum of the eco-left. Their recently retired chairman, Lord John Browne, was one of the most prominent promoters of “cap-and-trade.” BP was the Democrats’ favorite oil company. It was to Mr. Obama what TotalFinaElf was to Saddam Hussein.
(Illustration: Obama shrinks)
Obama’s Dilemma: Heavy Leadership Responsibility – Light Leadership Aptitude
BigGovernment.com
Posted Jun 29th 2010 at 8:37 am
The president’s recent disappointing oval office speech elicited a chorus of criticism from across the political spectrum. For some reason the speech seems to have put a spotlight on the president as a leader, whereas other misjudgments in which he was directly involved in making policy had not. The oil spill, which was certainly no fault of Mr. Obama, seems to have finally caused the public and many of his cheerleaders among the pundits to focus on the president’s substance and not his style. That has been the unspoken, elephant-in- the-room, concern throughout his presidency, his aptitude for leadership. We are reminded of the lead-in lyrics to the signature song Ethel Merman belts out in Gypsy… “Curtain up…light the lights…you either got it…or you ain’t.”
President Obama seems to have the curtain up, light the lights part down pat. The dramatic campaign and convention stage sets, his world photo-op tours, his big oval-office backdrop to his little oval-office speech, and his ever-masterful use of the teleprompter have all produced a “strike-up-the-band” expectation whenever and wherever he appears. It’s the “you either got it, or you ain’t” part that seems finally to have focused the public on the president’s aptitude for leadership.
Pennsylvania: Palin 24, Gingrich 23, Huckabee 20
HotAir.com
posted at 6:50 pm on June 28, 2010 by Allahpundit
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That’s actually not the most intriguing data point from this poll, but I know the Palinistas will whine forever if I don’t highlight the fact that she’s leading somewhere, so there you go. Don’t get me wrong: It is interesting that she’d do well in a northeastern state, which traditionally aren’t thought of as “Palin country.” But of course these are primary voters we’re talking about, and Pennsylvania Republicans are sufficiently red-meat that Specter abandoned ship before having to face them in a primary. No shocker, really, that a “true conservative” would fare well with them.
So what’s the intriguing data, if not this? Well, this is actually a poll of two states by PPP — Pennsylvania and Texas — and not only is Gingrich suddenly doing surprisingly well, but Romney has slipped all the way back into fourth place. I’m not sure why that would be true now rather than three months ago after ObamaCare passed, when conservative antipathy to the man responsible for RomneyCare was at a fever pitch. Maybe it’s a simple case of Gingrich keeping a high profile lately and Romney keeping a low one? Regardless, Newt pulls 25 percent in Texas (good for the lead, believe it or not) and 23 percent in Pennsylvania. Reversal of fortune:
The New Russian Intelligence Agency Plays Some Old Tricks Once Again: Old Goals Live On
PajamasMedia.com
It seems that some things never change. A few moments ago, this breaking story came in from the website of the New York Times. It seems, as this early report informs us, that ten Americans have been arrested for spying on behalf of Putin’s new Russia. The story has eerie reminiscences of the arrest, trial, and eventual execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, over half a century ago on June 19th, 1953 — only a week apart from the current date of these newly arrested accused spies.
Just as with the Venona papers, the U.S. government intercepted messages from Russian intelligence headquarters in Moscow addressed to two defendants — Richard and Cynthia Murphy of Montclair, New Jersey. This time, the government has let it be known how they came to find out about their involvement. With Venona, the codes that were being broken — and which led the FBI to have full knowledge of the existence of Rosenberg’s spy ring — could not be revealed out of concern it would alert the KGB to the fact that their top secret codes had been broken. Therefore, some spies they knew were guilty — like the top atomic spy Theodore Hall — got away with espionage. Hall refused to admit his guilt to the Bureau, and left for Great Britain, where he was able to have a distinguished lifelong career in science. Before he passed away a few years ago, he not only admitted his guilt, but bragged about how he had done his part to preserve peace, by helping the Soviets break America’s atomic monopoly. (more…)
The Coming Resignation of Barack Obama
The American Spectator
By Peter Ferrara on 6.2.10 @ 6:09AM
Months ago, I predicted in this column that President Obama would so discredit himself in office that he wouldn’t even be on the ballot in 2012, let alone have a prayer of being reelected. Like President Johnson in 1968, who had won a much bigger victory four years previously than Obama did in 2008, President Obama will be so politically defunct by 2012 that he won’t even try to run for reelection.
I am now ready to predict that President Obama will not even make it that far. I predict that he will resign in discredited disgrace before the fall of 2012. Like my previous prediction, that is based not just on where we are now, but where we are going under his misleadership.
Is the President Above the Law?
Watergate was supposed to have established that Presidents are not above the law. If that is so, President Obama may have to resign for breaking the law in the Sestak affair.
Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) is now the Democrat nominee for the Senate seat held far too long by Arlen Specter. President Obama induced Specter to switch parties and give the Democrats their very temporary, 60 vote, filibuster-proof majority, in return for endorsing him for reelection and promising him no opposition in the Democrat primary. But Sestak had already announced that he was running for the seat, and he refused to get out. Two week ago, Sestak defeated the unprincipled, opportunistic Specter for the Democrat nomination, continuing the perfect string of everyone who Obama endorses and campaigns for going down to defeat.
Shocking! Bat-wielding Union Thugs Attack Non-union Workers
BigGovernment.com
Posted Jun 26th 2010 at 11:33 am
Union violence is often talked about anecdotally but seldom addressed. Even though one 25-year study found nearly 9,000 reported incidents of union violence, union-controlled Democrats often try to sweep it under the rug and, when they can’t, they’ll feign shock while seeming to relish it when it happens.
On Wednesday, in Upper Merion, PA (outside of Philadelphia) another act of union brutality took place when several (presumably) union thugs used baseball bats to beat some construction workers who, in the union’s eyes, were guilty of being non-union.
Police say the incident began Wednesday morning when non-union construction workers attempted to gain access to the new Toys R Us site, but were blocked by protesting union workers.
When the victims were unable to gain access to the construction site, they drove to the area of the Transportation Center in the King of Prussia Plaza lot to wait for police assistance. (more…)
Obama: Odd Man Out in Economic Summit!
FloppingAces.net
Posted by: Mike’s America @ 5:53 pm, June 27, 2010
Our allies are moving to cut spending and debt at the same time Obama urges them to party on!
President Barack Obama, right, stands beside French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other G8 Leaders during a family photo with African Outreach Leaders during the G8 Summit at the Deerhurst Resort in Hunstville, Ontario, Canada, Friday, June 25, 2010.
SIOA’s FIRST FILM: Standing for Freedom Against the Ground Zero Mega-Mosque
Atlas Shrugs
Sunday, June 27, 2010
SIOA is proud to present its first documentary: Standing for Freedom Against the Ground Zero Mega-Mosque. Currently in production, the Standing for Freedom Against the Ground Zero Mega-Mosque documentary will feature exclusive coverage of the June 6 SIOA protest against the mega-mosque that was attended by thousands and thousands of Americans.
It will document the fight and the great Americans who stood for what was right.
You’ll get a front-row seat for speeches by SIOA’s Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, along with heroes of 9/11, 9/11 family members, human rights activists from India, Africa, the Gaza Strip, Egypt and elsewhere, and many others.
Standing for Freedom Against the Ground Zero Mega-Mosque also brings you the coverage of the Ground Zero mega-mosque controversy by CNN, ABC, and others, exposing the media’s outrageous bias against SIOA and all those fighting forfreedom against the mega-mosque — plus exclusive interviews with Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer and former Muslims, giving an overview of the controversy, detailing with the dishonesty of the mosque organizers, and much more.
Term-Limits
Advice from Curtis & Leroy:
Limit all US politicians to two terms. One in office, one in prison.
Detroit and Chicago already do this.
Widow of Houston Officer Killed by Illegal Immigrant ‘Shocked’ at ICE Appointment
FOXNews.com
Published June 25, 2010
Shown here are Rodney Johnson, right, a Houston police officer killed in 2006, and his widow Joslyn Johnson. (MyFoxHouston)
The widow of a Houston police officer killed by an illegal immigrant was “shocked” to learn that the city’s former police chief has landed a top immigration job with the Obama administration, her lawyer told FoxNews.com on Friday.
That’s because Joslyn Johnson, whose husband, Rodney Johnson, was killed in 2006, is suing former Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt for failing to enforce federal immigration laws. She claims her husband would be alive today if the city had bothered to check up on the gunman’s immigration status.
Now that Hurtt is taking a job to oversee partnerships between federal and local officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Johnson — and other critics — say they’re concerned the official who resisted immigration enforcement in Houston will now be in charge of promoting it.
“She was shocked at the irony,” Johnson’s attorney, Ben Dominguez, said.
Gulf Dealing With New Oil Spill Fear — Hurricane
National Hurricane Center| FOXNews.com
By Jeremy A. Kaplan
Published June 25, 2010
National Hurricane Center
The outlined area in this satellite photo indicate the current position of systems being monitored by the National Hurricane System. Color indicates the probability that the formation will become a tropical cyclone within 48 hours.
The first hurricane of what experts fear will be a very severe season may be brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, and anxious workers struggling to cap the leaking oil well are watching and worrying.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Friday morning of not one but two weather formations in the Gulf of Mexico, both with the potential to swell into more serious weather systems. Responders in the Gulf of Mexico are eyeing the storm system closely, to see whether it turns towards the Gulf and interferes with ability to mop up spilled oil and cap the leaking well.
4-day school weeks gain popularity across US
Yahoo! News
Play Video 
Play Video 
Play Video
FORT VALLEY, Ga. – During the school year, Mondays in this rural Georgia community are for video games, trips to grandma’s house and hanging out at the neighborhood community center.
Don’t bother showing up for school. The doors are locked and the lights are off.
Is the Obama WH evading disclosure laws?
HotAir.com
posted at 2:20 pm on June 25, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
printer-friendly
The New York Times buries the lede in its story about how the White House has avoided getting publicly linked to lobbyists after making them an issue during the presidential campaign of 2008. Eric Lichtblau takes a break from exposing national-security secrets to expose the practice of making the local Caribou Coffee an extension of the White House in order to meet with lobbyists in an environment without those pesky Secret Service logs, which is bad enough for an administration that keeps dislocating its shoulder from constantly patting itself on the back on transparency. However, the real story may be that the White House is breaking laws intended on keeping records of all official business in the executive branch:
White House officials said there was nothing improper about the off-site meetings.
“The Obama administration has taken unprecedented steps to increase the openness and transparency of the White House,” said Dan Pfeiffer, director of communications. “We expect that all White House employees adhere to their obligations under our very stringent ethics rules regardless of who they are meeting with or where they meet.”
The “tyranny of constituency”?
HotAir.com
posted at 12:55 pm on June 25, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
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When the founders created Congress, they had two separate constituencies in mind. For the House, they wanted Representatives who would be accountable to the people, while for the Senate they wanted members accountable to the state legislatures that were the natural check on federal power. (Later, the 17th Amendment made Senators accountable to the general public instead.) They formed this body in answer to the tyranny of distant nobility and politicians with no accountability whatsoever to those whom they would rule. A representative government, they concluded, would be the antidote of tyranny.
Apparently, NPR didn’t get the message. In a late analysis to their poll ten days ago on Congressional races, which shows Democrats in deep trouble for the midterm elections, NPR called the coming exercise in accountability a demonstration of “the tyranny of constituency” (via Instapundit):
A poll NPR reported earlier this week offered the most telling metrics we’ve seen yet for measuring the mountain that congressional Democrats face this fall. It got a lot of attention for all the obvious reasons. But there’s a good deal more to be gleaned from the numbers than the headline about a likely boost for Republicans. …
Beneath the surface, the NPR poll was all about the tyranny of constituency, the down and dirty of serving the folks back home. House districts (and states’ legislative districts) tend to be intricately drawn demarcations of the folks back home. From a complicated map of a state or a metro area, computer-enabled experts carve out jigsaw puzzle pieces that aggregate like-minded voters (and exclude those with different views).
More good news ……………..
Atlas Shrugs
Friday, June 25, 2010
This is the asshat who sided with chuckie the traitor, and slammed Spencer and me, among others …… That the Washington Post had this clown covering the conservative blog beat says it all.
I wonder who WaPo will tab to fill Weigel’s crocs? Kos?
BREAKING: Weigel Resigns by Matt Dornic, Media Bistro
FIRST ON FBDC: FishbowlDC has confirmed that WaPo conservative-beat blogger Dave Weigel has resigned after a slew of his anti-conservative comments and emails surfaced on FishbowlDC and Daily Caller over the past two days.
A spokesperson for the Post said the paper will not offer additional comments but confirmed that the writer’s resignation was accepted.
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