Extortion call, somber visit bring nightmare home for parents of Marine jailed in Mexico [UPDATE: Hammer was released before Christmas]
[FNC]
By Joseph J. Kolb
Published December 13, 2012
Jon Hammar Jr. has been held in Mexico’s notorious CEDES prison since August.
The father of a U.S. Marine jailed in Mexico after being caught with his grandfather’s antique shotgun heard the fear in his son’s voice and felt helpless.
The phone call came at midnight from Mexico’s notorious CEDES prison, where Jon Hammar, Jr. has been held since August. The caller demanded $1,800, then put Hammar on to drive the point home.
“They’re serious, Dad,” Jon Hammar, Sr. heard his son say. “I’ll pay you back; they are going to kill me.”
“They’re serious, Dad. I’ll pay you back; they are going to kill me.”
- Jon Hammar, Jr., speaking by phone from a Mexican jail
Thank you to our defenders of freedom
[HumanEvents.com]
November 12, 2012
By: Debbie Lee
It is with great respect, admiration and deep understanding that I write this letter to honor each and every Veteran that has served or is serving our blessed Country! I understand and appreciate all who have given so much for me, so that I could enjoy my daily freedoms.
I was able to sleep well in the safety of my bed last night, because you served.
I was able to pray before my meal this morning in a public place without fearing arrest, because you gave.
I am able to freely speak my mind and voice my opinion without fear of retaliation against me or my family, because you cared.
I am able to stand up for what I believe in and not have a Dictators thoughts and opinions forced down my throat, because you stood up to the call to defend.
I am free to worship the one true God who created me in His image, because you were selfless in your actions.
To each one of you I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are my heroes and I want to remember and honor you this Veterans Day. Not a single day goes by that I don’t think of the sacrifices you and your families have given!
As Carney labels Libya strike terrorism, Obama continues to cite anti-Islam film
[FoxNews.com]
Published September 20, 2012
After the White House for the first time Thursday explicitly called the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya an act of terror, President Obama ducked an opportunity to clear up the confusion about the ever-changing narrative — appearing to hold firm to the story that an anti-Islam film was to blame.
The president spoke Thursday at a town hall hosted by the Spanish-language Univision. He declined to get into specifics, even as lawmakers said after an intelligence briefing that there clearly was “some pre-planning” in last week’s deadly attack.
Instead, Obama launched into an explanation about how the U.S. saw something it’s seen before, where “there is an offensive video or cartoon directed at the Prophet Muhammad” and that is used “as an excuse by some to carry out inexcusable violent acts” against the U.S.
Obama stressed that we’re “still doing an investigation” and said he didn’t know whether Al Qaeda was involved.
Michelle Obama leads convention campaign to rekindle the ’08 fire
[FoxNews-AP]
Published September 04, 2012
Michelle Obama will lead a Democratic convention program Tuesday aimed at rekindling that feeling her husband’s supporters had in 2008.
Amid an increasingly bitter presidential campaign and concerns about the state of the economy, a full roster of Democratic officials and activists will take the stage in Charlotte Tuesday evening to make the case for a second President Obama term. Just as in Tampa, the speeches are sure to include plenty of fiery accusations against the other side. And just as with the Republican convention, the speakers’ chief job is to sell their candidate to voters.
The enthusiasm in 2012 is not exactly what it was for the president’s history-making, world-rallying 2008 campaign. The president’s approval rating, according to Gallup, has dropped from nearly 70 percent when he took office to 45 percent at the beginning of September — with more Americans now disapproving than approving of his job performance.
Romney: Put Akin on Ice
[Breitbart.com]
Romney To Akin: Step Aside
by John Nolte – August 21, 2012
In a statement just released from the Romney campaign, the new leader of the Republican party has stepped up to lead:
As I said yesterday, Todd Akin’s comments were offensive and wrong and he should very seriously consider what course would be in the best interest of our country. Today, his fellow Missourians urged him to step aside, and I think he should accept their counsel and exit the Senate race.
Obama, Why Don’t You Just Resign?
Center for Western Journalism
[WesternJournalism.com]
Barack Hussein Obama has decided that in order to punish Arizona for having dared enforce American immigration laws, he has ordered his federal agencies to basically stop working with Arizona’s law enforcement agencies concerning illegal immigrants. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr has also made it known as the nations chief law enforcement officer that he too is only going to selectively enforce immigration laws that he personally likes. More to the point, Holder will only enforce what is beneficial to his boss’s re-election campaign. If I’m not mistaken, this attitude by both men is blatantly UNCONSTITUTIONAL and falls under the heading of “high crimes and misdemeanors’, an IMPEACHABLE offense!
Mr. Obama, how in the world can you look at the people of Arizona and tell them that YOU are not willing to give them EQUAL PROTECTION under the laws of the United States? Brian Terry, an American Border Patrol Agent, was shot in the back 18 miles INSIDE the border of the United States! Jaime Zapata, an ICE agent, was also killed because of an illegally run and botched program known as Fast & Furious. Being an accomplice to murder, Mr. Obama, is a crime punishable by prison time. Maybe you and Mr Holder could share a cell? Anyway, I digress…..again!
My feelings are, Mr. Obama, that you should be impeached before any more American and Mexican bodies pile up because of your insanity. Mr. Holder should be found guilty of contempt of Congress and charged with negligent homicide in the cases of the two dead federal agents. You and Holder should also have to face justice in the death of the Arizona rancher and others who were killed by your illegal compadres coming across our borders and onto American’s rightfully-owned land. I have an idea for a reverse gun walking program that I would like to run called “Slow & Deliberate”! It’s a program whereby I legally get to use federal funds to LEGALLY buy guns from LEGAL gun shop owners and arm American citizens to help guard the American border from the intrusion of illegals from everywhere. No problems, no paperwork, no questions! All neat, tidy, and LEGAL!
Obama Campaign E-Mail: ‘We’re Falling Behind’
[Breitbart.com]
June 24, 2012 – by William Bigelow
Obama’s latest e-mail shows the panic
The Obama campaign is so frightened at this point that they have taken an unprecedented step.
They’re telling the truth.
In the latest of the “personal” e-mails that the Obama campaign is sending out, they don’t sugarcoat their appeal for money with saccharine stories about Obama shoveling snow for his wife, or working hard late into the night. They panic:
For the first time in modern American history, the incumbent (that’s us) will get outspent in a re-election campaign — by some estimates as much as 3-to-1.
Over the last 10 days of this month alone, GOP outside groups will spend $20 million attacking President Obama on TV.
Think about that, then think about what they’ll spend over the last 10 days in October.
We have to take this seriously. Four months to go in this election, and we have a huge fundraising deadline coming up in less than a week — any day we’re not chipping away at that disadvantage, we’re falling behind.
Congressional Black Caucus Director: Opposition To Obama Is Racist [Really? MLK: Content of Character]
[FrontPorchPolitics.com]
Written on June 14, 2012 at 6:47 pm by Tim Brown
The Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus, Angela Rye, claims that Barack Obama’s first term has languished because of racially motivated opposition from conservatives who don’t like having a black president.
Appearing on CPAN, Rye said, “I think that a lot of what the president has experienced is because he’s black. You know, whether it’s questioning his intellect or whether or not he’s Ivy League,” she continued. It’s always either he’s not educated enough or he’s too educated; or he’s too black or he’s not black enough; he’s too Christian or not Christian enough. There are all these things where he has to walk this very fine line to even be successful.”
“There’s an ad, talking about the president is too cool, is he too cool? And there’s this music that reminds me of, you know, some of the blaxploitation films from the 70s playing in the background, him with his sunglasses,” Rye said. “And to me it was just very racially-charged. They weren’t asking if Bush was too cool, but, yet, people say that that’s the number one person they’d love to have a beer with. So, if that’s not cool I dont know what is.”
The director claims that she has no idea if black support and enthusiasm is lower since 2008. She also didn’t mention the Obama campaign’s own urban styled radio spot.
The REAL Problem With the NLRB’s Ambush Elections Rule: Unions LIE.
[RedState.com]
Posted by LaborUnionReport (Diary)
Thursday, May 24th at 9:30PM EDT
Recently, a federal court smacked down Barack Obama’s union appointees at the National Labor Relations Board for the manner in which they imposed their ambush election scheme. The scheme is, however, far from dead as the union-controlled labor board is “determined to move forward” with the needless rules. While there is much opposition to the NLRB’s ambush election rules, few have yet to address the underlying issue that makes the scheme unfair to workers and a disaster for America’s union-free workplace and that is: Unions and their organizers LIE to and deceive workers…All. The. Time.
What’s worse is that, not only do unions lie to, trick and deceive workers into unionizing, it’s perfectly legal to do so.
With a median time from petition-filing to election, unions have been winning around 60% or more of the elections conducted by the NLRB for about a decade (unions won 71% in 2011).
However, with ambush elections, the union win rate is expected to increase to around 90% and here’s why: A longer time frame allows for more information to be given to voting employees and, therefore, leaves unions vulnerable to having their lies, trickery and deception exposed.
Under U.S. labor law vis-à-vis the National Labor Relations Act (as well as its sister law for the airline and railroad industries, the Railway Labor Act), unions are not held accountable for the lies and deception they foist on workers to goad them into unionizing. Unfortunately for workers, it’s caveat emptor (buyer beware) and many have paid the price in wasted dues, labor disputes and job losses. ["...thou shalt NOT bare false witness..."]
Like Warren, Obama Claims Cherokee Ancestry–But Offers No Proof
[Breitbart.com]
May 21, 2012
President Barack Obama and Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren have more in common than just their liberal political ideology, Harvard Law pedigree, and Democratic Party affiliation. Both claim Cherokee ancestry, and neither can prove it.
Ms. Warren’s claims are current and well known, but President Obama’s claims were made back in 1995, when his memoir, Dreams from My Father, was published. On pages 12 and 13 of the 2004 paperback edition, the President unequivocally asserts his Cherokee ancestry:
If asked, Toot [Obama’s maternal grandmother, Madelyne Payne Dunham] would turn her head in profile to show off her beaked nose, which, along with a pair of jet-black eyes, was offered as proof of Cherokee blood.
George Zimmerman: Prelude to a shooting [How the mainsteam media got it wrong]
[Reuters.com]
April 26, 2012
The first time the dog ran free and cornered Shellie in their gated community in Sanford, Florida, George called the owner to complain. The second time, Big Boi frightened his mother-in-law’s dog. Zimmerman called Seminole County Animal Services and bought pepper spray. The third time he saw the dog on the loose, he called again. An officer came to the house, county records show.
“Don’t use pepper spray,” he told the Zimmermans, according to a friend. “It’ll take two or three seconds to take effect, but a quarter second for the dog to jump you,” he said.
“Get a gun.”
That November, the Zimmermans completed firearms training at a local lodge and received concealed-weapons gun permits. In early December, another source close to them told Reuters, the couple bought a pair of guns. George picked a Kel-Tec PF-9 9mm handgun, a popular, lightweight weapon.
First Signs of a Real Obama Backlash?
[PJMedia.com]
By Brian Preston
April 26, 2012
In the past few weeks, Americans have learned just how wasteful that obscure and well regarded government agencies can be. From the GSA’s lavish spending to send interns to Palm Springs, to the Secret Service’s hooker ho-downs in Third World Countries, from the oppressive TSA to the crucifying EPA, government is increasingly becoming more than just the enemy of small government advocates. If you run a business, fly anywhere, own a farm or just want to be free, big government has become a big enemy, period.
Barack Obama, meanwhile, is oblivious to all this. He keeps on pushing government as the be all end all solution to everything. A new poll out suggests that this attitude is going to catch up with him.
Today, just one in three has a favorable view of the federal government — the lowest level in 15 years, according to a Pew survey. The majority of Americans remain satisfied with their local and state governments — 61 percent and 52 percent, respectively — but only 33 percent feel likewise about the federal government.
In 2002, nearly double that figure, 64 percent, viewed the federal government favorably, and Americans held their local and state governments in similar esteem, at 67 percent and 62 percent, respectively.
There’s the expected partisan gap: A majority of Democrats, 51 percent, view the Obama-led government favorably, compared to 27 percent of independents and 20 percent of Republicans. During the Bush presidency, a majority of Republicans viewed the federal government favorably, while support for it faded among Democrats.
IS PROGRESSIVISM THE NEW COMMUNISM?
[LibertyNewsOnline.com]
April 19, 2012 – by Susan Brown
In politics, truth-telling can get you into trouble, even if you stumble upon it by accident. Just ask Rep. Allen West (R-FL).
West is feeling the heat for a pregnant pause he took during a town hall meeting after he was asked “What percentage of the American legislature do you think are card-carrying Marxists or International Socialists?”
“It’s a good question,” West responded, “I believe there’s [sic] about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party who are members of the Communist Party. (Long pause) “They don’t actually hide. It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus.” The left became unhinged.
Obviously West touched a nerve; before long, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) drafted their response: “Calling fellow Members of Congress ‘Communists’ is reminiscent of the days when Joe McCarthy divided Americans with name-calling and modern-day witch hunts that don’t advance policies to benefit people’s lives…”
The CPC’s response is just another sign of the political times we live in. But something about their argument doesn’t pass the “smell test.”
While there may not be large numbers of card-carrying communists lining the halls of Congress, there is a clear tie between the Democratic Party’s Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), Communist Party USA (CPUSA), and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
The evolution of George Zimmerman continues in the media [Reader Post]
[FloppingAces.net]
In a post at Just One Minute, Tom Maguire suggests that the NY Times took its finger off the scales of justice.
Either the NY Times needs to tear out the front page or they have just delivered an epic fail. In either case, they have delivered a tilt to the scales of justice.
In a long attempt to detail the night of the Trayvon Martin killing they include this description of the fatal scuffle:
However it started, witnesses described to the 911 dispatcher what resulted: the neighborhood watch coordinator, 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, and the visitor, 6-foot-1 and 150, wrestling on the ground.
To my knowledge nobody anywhere has ever suggested that Zimmerman weighed 170 pounds [His friend did on March 27!]. I would say that the low bid I have seen is 220, although some people did remark that he looked smaller than they expected in the infamous ABC video taken the night he was brought in.
GOP Senators renew plea to avoid ‘devastating’ defense cuts
Before departing for a two-week Easter recess Thursday, Republican senators renewed a plea for bipartisan collaboration to avoid a round of crippling budget cuts to the Defense Department.Under an agreement reached last year by legislators on both sides of the aisle, automatic budget cuts to the Defense Department could reduce its funding by $500 billion over the next 10 years–on top of the $487 billion the department has already been ordered to find and slash. The cuts, which Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has repeatedly called a “meat ax,” would take effect on Jan. 1 and would create particularly dire financial straits for the department in Fiscal 2013.
Other federal departments, including Education, are expected to take a budget hit under this Budget Control Act requirement, called sequestration, but DoD has received most of the attention on the issue, as it is slated to absorb half of the cuts.
The Sharpton tapes: MSNBC’s hate-monger lets loose
[MichelleMalkin.com]
For years on my blog and in my columns, I’ve documented race-baiting Reverend Al Sharpton’s unparalleled hate speech. The vile shakedowns, bigoted incitements, and police-bashing antics. The demagogue-a-thons, the circuses. All of it.
Sharpton’s enablers at MSNBC have continued to look the other way at their resident hate-monger’s filth, while pretending to uphold impeccable standards of decency and civility.
Today, Jeffrey Lord at The American Spectator spotlights hair-raising tapes of Sharpton’s tirades involving “Chinamen,” “Greek homos,” and “n****rs.” Lord notes the collusion between Soros-funded, Rush Limbaugh-bashing Media Matters and MSNBC and adds:
The Vetting, Part I: Barack’s Love Song To Alinsky
[Breitbart.com]
Prior to his passing, Andrew Breitbart said that the mission of the Breitbart empire was to exemplify the free and fearless press that our Constitution protects–but which, increasingly, the mainstream media denies us.
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” – “Who guards the guardians?” Andrew saw himself in that role—as a guardian protecting Americans from the left’s “objective” loyal scribes.
Andrew wanted to do what the mainstream media would not. First and foremost: Andrew pledged to vet President Barack H. Obama.
Andrew did not want to re-litigate the 2008 election. Nor did he want to let Republicans off the hook. Instead, he wanted to show that the media had failed in its most basic duty: to uncover the truth, and hold those in power accountable, regardless of party.
From today through Election Day, November 6, 2012, we will vet this president–and his rivals.
We begin with a column Andrew wrote last week in preparation for today’s Big relaunch–a story that should swing the first hammer against the glass wall the mainstream media has built around Barack Obama.
What’s At Stake in Michigan?
[RedState.com]
Posted by Dan McLaughlin (Diary)
Monday, February 27th at 2:17 PM EST
Here’s why tomorrow’s Michigan primary is so important: it’s about establishment confidence in Mitt Romney and the last outside chance of getting another entrant in the race.
There are, as I’ve noted previously, a number of different types of “establishment” vs “grassroots” divides in the GOP, but you don’t have to have any particular definition of ‘establishment’ to recognize that Romney’s candidacy leans heavily on the support he draws from traditional ‘establishment’ or ‘insider’ sources: money from big-dollar fundraisers, endorsements from big-name elected officials, and covering fire from right-leaning journalists at major mainstream publications and conservative journals. Romney has depended, time and again, on his ability to get out of trouble by having the resources to go more negative than whatever opponent he’s targeting: more money to dump on negative ads and a bigger chorus of voices amplifying those attacks.
Aside from Mormon support – which is somewhat sui generis to Romney – some of Romney’s structural support comes from people who know him personally or identify with him as a fellow wealthy businessman; some comes from people who fear running a bold-colors conservative; and some comes from those who, whether or not they’d support a conservative in theory, fear Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich as electoral liabilities, Santorum for his overly outspoken social conservatism, Newt for his long train of baggage. (It’s obviously Santorum represents a serious threat to Romney at present.)
How a Republican President can undo everything Obama’s done [Reader Post]
[FloppingAces.net]
Barack Obama has made it easy. As they say at Nike
Barack Obama has hinted at becoming a dictator
“As I mentioned when I was at La Raza a few weeks back, I wish I had a magic wand and could make this all happen on my own,” Obama told a meeting of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. “There are times where — until Nancy Pelosi is speaker again — I’d like to work my way around Congress.”
He thinks he has an obligation to take action without Congress
then I have an obligation as President to do what I can without them.
It’s official. We now have a dictator.
OBAMA APPOINTS FORMER La RAZA RADICAL TO A WHITE HOUSE SENIOR POSITION
[LibertyNewsOnline.com]
Posted: January 13, 2012
Amie Parnes and Erik Wasson – The Hill
The White House announced Tuesday that Cecilia Muñoz, a former senior vice president of the National Council of La Raza, would replace Melody Barnes at the top of the council. White House press secretary Jay Carney announced the appointment during his press briefing.
Muñoz is now serving as the White House’s director of intergovernmental affairs and is in charge of outreach to state and local governments.
“The president has asked, she has accepted,” Carney said.
Muñoz is an immigration expert who worked for the National Council of La Raza, the largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, until she joined the administration in 2009. The group works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans and advocates legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Occupy’s ‘nerve center’ staffed by Soros activists
[WND.com]
Professional radicals caught red-handed running so-called ‘leaderless’ movement
CWNews Posted: December 13, 2011
Originally Posted: December 09, 2011
1:00 am Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2011 WND
The so-called leaderless Occupy movement has just been caught red-handed operating what appears to be a nerve center staffed by professional agitators deeply tied to groups funded by billionaire activist George Soros.
The groups, most prominent among them being the Tides Center, have been involved with Occupy since the anti-Wall Street movement’s inception.
The radical connections have been largely missed by the general public. CNN, the only news media outlet to receive exclusive access to Occupy’s alleged headquarters, did not fully identify the activists found running it.
Last week, CNN ran a piece titled “Exclusive: Inside the offices of Occupy Wall Street.”
The article and accompanying video purport to depict “a few dozen Occupy Wall Street organizers” who “show up to work every day at an office building in the heart of Manhattan’s Financial District.” CNN surmised “the office space appears to be the movement’s nerve center,” a notion denied by Occupy leaders interviewed by the news network.
Barack Obama, Ed Schultz Make GQ‘s ’LEAST Influential People Alive’ List
[TheBlaze.com]
- Posted on November 25, 2011 at 6:54pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
While magazines across the country offer readers their pick of the world’s “most influential people,” this year, GQ magazine is bringing you the “The 25 Least Influential People Alive” — and on the list are MSNBC host Ed Schultz, and, of all people, President Barack Obama. This is the same magazine that oddly, named Obama “Leader of the Year“ in 2009 and ”Man of the Year“ in 2008 while calling Sarah Palin ”dangerous“ and ”poisonous.”
But now, GQ has weighed the data and places Obama as the 25th least influential person in the world. Joining the president and Schultz are Daily Beast and Newsweek editor Tina Brown, along with Hosni Mubarak, Hank Williams Jr. and John Boehner, who came in at number 24.
While the issue has not yet been published, TVNewswer brought us a taste of what GQ had to say about Schultz:
…Then there pundits like Ed Schultz. Do you watch “The Ed Show” on MSNBC? Of course you don’t. No one does. The only reason people watch “The Ed Show” is they’re working out in a hotel gym and they can’t find a staff member to change the channel to ESPN.
Circus Circus: Gloria Allred jumps on the Cain Train; Accuser is Sharon Bialek
[MichelleMalkin.com]
Allred snarks about Cain’s “stimulus package”
What a way to kick off the week. At least we had an extra hour from Daylight Saving Time to prepare.
Yep: Gloria Allred is back. And she’s scrambling to hop aboard the Cain Train.
Gird your loins. Er, maybe that’s not the best idiom.
Get ready for the Gloria Media Gaggle. Estimated time of circus debut: 1:30 pm Eastern:
High-profile discrimination attorney Gloria Allred says another woman has come forward accusing Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain of sexual harassment.
Allred and the woman, whom she did not identify, are planning a news conference in New York later Monday.
The woman would be at least the fourth to accuse Cain, a former businessman, of harassment.
Here’s the press release from Allred’s office:
Herman Cain and Sexual Harassment
New Woman Who Alleges Sexual Harassment By Cain To Hold News Conference With Her Attorney Gloria Allred.
A woman who alleges that she was sexually harassed by Presidential hopeful, Herman Cain, when she sought his help with an employment issue when he was President of the National Restaurant Association will hold a news conference with her Attorney, Gloria Allred on Monday, November 7th, at 1:30 p.m. (e.s.t.) at the Friars Club, 57 East 55th Street New York, NY 10022.
The woman is not one of the three women who have previously been reported to have alleged sexual harassment by Cain.
Ms. Allred’s client will be the first to give her name and to speak out about details of what she alleges occurred between her and Cain.
Note: Credentialed Press Only – Cameras may begin to set up at 12:30 p.m. at the Friars Club.
Note: There will be no interviews or questions answered before the news conference.
First, a caveat:
As much of a despicable publicity-seeker as the Paris Hilton of Lawyers is, it’s a mistake to completely write off Allred before the presser. The last time we saw her, I must remind you, she was attached like a barnacle to the side of one of Anthony Weiner’s sexting pals. And we know how that all — rightly — ended.
That said, while Cain botched the initial response to Politico’s vague story and the race-card playing by all sides has been over-the-top, the scandal qua scandal has so far been a dud.
The Telegraph’s Toby Harnden explains:
Rather than being prepared for the inevitable disclosure of the cases, he was caught flat-footed, claiming at first not to remember what had happened and then dribbling out details and shifting explanations over the ensuing days. He fuelled more controversy by blaming Governor Rick Perry’s campaign for planting the story, lost his temper with the press and was barely able to talk about the US economy until his speech on Friday.
By any normal rules of politics, Cain should be toast. So what’s going on?
Simply put, the media and Cain’s detractors have over-played their hand. By Friday night, Politico, which broke the original story, had published 94 articles on the allegations in under six days. Every other major publication had followed suit. Every time he stepped out of a room, Cain was mobbed by reporters.
Yet despite the maelstrom, Cain’s accusers remain anonymous and the details of the allegations oddly vague. With many conservatives believing that sexual harassment lawsuits are an industry and that frivolous cases are often settled to avoid more expensive litigation, there was a growing sense that Cain was being treated unfairly…
***
Flashback: Six days ago, Allred was fishing for anti-Cain clients. We’ll see what she reeled in.
Related: In the WSJ today, Curt Levey spotlights the sexual harassment legal morass…
Once again, America finds itself gripped by a sexual harassment scandal. And once again the term “sexual harassment” is being thrown around in a way that conveys a misleadingly broad definition. The reported allegations against Herman Cain—that he made sexually suggestive remarks and unwanted sexual advances while he headed the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s—are endlessly spoken and written about as constituting sexual harassment. That’s far from clear according to the law.
Sexual harassment claims in the workplace are governed by the federal antidiscrimination statute Title VII and similar state laws. Title VII protects only employees, holds the employer, not the harasser, liable, and recognizes two types of harassment claims: “quid pro quo” and “hostile environment.”
The former occurs when job benefits, such as employment, promotion, and salary are made contingent on the provision of sexual favors—or withdrawn because a sexual advance is rejected. While suggestively asking your employee up to your hotel room is a bad idea, without more it’s not sexual harassment.
The definition of hostile-environment harassment is more complicated and more open to interpretation. For a hostile-environment claim to succeed, the conduct—sexual advances or hostile behavior—must be unwelcome, based on gender, and severe or pervasive enough to create an abusive work environment as judged by an objective, reasonable person. Each of these several elements must be satisfied. And even then, the plaintiff will prevail only if the employer failed to respond appropriately…
***
Exit question: Is the addition of ambulance-chaser Allred more boon than bane to Cain?
***
Update 12:08pm Eastern:
The Cain staff just tweeted: “Welcome to the campaign, Gloria Allred. What took you so long?” The tweet links to Cain’s Iowa fund.
Update: Press conference hijacked by same Howard Stern clown who heckled Anthony Weiner.
1:45pm Eastern. Allred introduces Sharon Bialek, single mother, “registered Republican,” NRA education foundation fund-raiser from Chicago.
Allred jokes that Cain showed Bialek his idea of a “stimulus package.”
Journalists laugh.
Says she met Cain at an NRA event in Chicago with her boyfriend. After she was let go, mid-July 1997, she arranged to meet with Cain to ask for help in finding a new job. Cain, she says, arranged for her to stay at a “palatial suite” in D.C.
Bialek claims Cain groped her under her skirt and reached for her genitals, then shoved her head towards his crotch while in a car in mid-July 1997.
She didn’t report the incident because she was “embarrassed.”
Bialek saw Cain at a Tea Party event last month and asked “Do you remember me?”
“I really didn’t want to be here today.”
At end of her statement, she giggled. She talked about her new hairdo.
Allred confirms that Bialek did not notify NRA about the incident. Bialek smiled. Won’t comment when asked about the “emotional trauma” of the incident.
So Bialek is single with a teenage child, with no discernible means of income, and employing a top Democrat hit woman celebrity attorney and her employment law partner.
Hm.
Twittersphere is lighting up with diverse reaction from conservatives. Some find Bialek “very credible.” More obituaries being written for Cain.
I need to know more.
Your thoughts, readers?
***
Here’s a LinkedIn account to a “Sharon Bialek” from Chicago in “marketing and advertising.”
***
Via Larry O’Connor, here’s full video of the Allred-led circus circus.
The Cain camp’s response here: “All allegations…are false.”
Neo-Nazi Group Plans Anti-Immigrant Rally In California
[FoxNews.com]
OCT. 24: File-Members of the white supremacist group, the National Socialist Movement, hold swastika flags and salute at the NSMÃs anti-illegal immigration rally near a Home Depot store in Riverside, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) (2009 Getty Images)
A neo-Nazi group has planned a march and rally outside a California town’s city hall to demand an end to undocumented immigrants coming into the country.
Members of the National Socialist Movement (NSM) will march Saturday afternoon to Pomona’s City Hall because the town is considered a “sanctuary” city for undocumented immigrants. Sanctuary cities are considered any town in the U.S. that – either by law or by habit – protects undocumented immigrants by not complying with federal immigration policies.
“Pomona was selected for this event because it’s turned itself into a sanctuary city for all these illegal aliens who are flooding into this area,” NSM member Butch Urban said, according to the Southwest Riverside News Network.
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