Decision Looms for Army Sergeant Who Protected Afghan Boy From Child Rapist

/5 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Fox News A decorated Army sergeant who protected an Afghan boy from a child molester could find out any day whether his actions will end his career in the military.

Sgt. First Class Charles Martland, a Green Beret with an 11-year Special Forces career, was stationed in Afghanistan in 2011 when the boy’s mother came to him and said she’d been beaten and her son raped by a local police commander. Martland and another soldier summoned the police official and, when the man laughed at them, threw him off the base. Martland and Daniel Quinn were both disciplined for their actions.

Last year, amid military cuts, the Army Human Resources Command recommended Martland be discharged in part based on his disciplinary record, but an official decision by U.S. Army brass is expected by March 1.

“Charles did the right thing in Afghanistan by standing up to a child rapist and corrupt commander, and now it’s the Army’s turn to do the right thing and reverse the decision to expel him from the service,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., whose office has been assisting Martland. “Permitting Charles to continue serving is in the best interest of the Army and the nation.”

Supporters mounted an online petition backing Martland and separately, 93 members of Congress have called for an investigation into the military’s silence in the face of rampant sexual abuse of children in Afghanistan. (Read more from “Decision Looms for Army Sergeant Who Protected Afghan Boy” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Bush Campaign Ridicules Story That It’s out of Cash

/1 Comment/in , /by

By Jonathan Swan. Jeb Bush campaign officials and a top fundraiser are pushing back aggressively against a story by conservative talk show host Erick Erickson in which he claims that the Bush campaign will stop paying staff on Saturday due to lack of funds.

Citing “sources close to the Bush campaign,” Erickson wrote that there was a phone call on Wednesday night in which the news leaked out that the Bush campaign was out of cash.

After Erickson’s story reverberated through the political world on Thursday morning, Bush campaign spokesman Tim Miller tweeted:

Al Cardenas, a longtime Bush insider and senior fundraiser, told The Hill — with his tongue firmly planted in cheek — that he was amazed that “Erick has better information than I do.”

“I am traveling on Saturday to Nevada to help oversee that effort, and we have staff waiting for me,” Cardenas said in a telephone interview. “And nobody’s been notified about this information. (Read more from “Bush Campaign Ridicules Story That It’s out of Cash” HERE)

_____________________________________

Supporters to Jeb: The Donald’s in Your Head

By David Catanese. Jeb Bush supporters think their presidential candidate has been thrown off his optimistic tone by the rancorous bullying of Donald Trump.

And they’re telling him that to his face.

During a midday campaign stop at a country club here Wednesday, Bush was confronted at least three times by seemingly benevolent backers who critiqued his message and offered candid advice about how to right the course.

“I’m afraid that your message doesn’t resonate to the national community,” said Edward Scott, a Maryland resident who was traveling in the Palmetto State for work and supports Bush. (Read more from “Supporters to Jeb: The Donald’s in Your Head” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Watch: Antonin Scalia’s Son Just Revealed What He Thinks Caused His Father’s Death

/14 Comments/in , /by

By Randy DeSoto. The oldest son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia believes his father died of natural causes.

“Our family just has no doubt that he was taken from us by natural causes,” Eugene Scalia, 52, said on the Laura Ingraham radio show on Wednesday. “We accept that. We’re praying for him. We ask others to accept that and pray for him.”

Scalia, who is an attorney, understands why people would have a hard time wrapping their minds around his father’s sudden passing.

Scalia is one of nine children the late justice had with his wife of fifty-five years, Maureen. “Everybody loses their dad at some point,” the oldest son observed. “And I feel blessed that it’s not just the family who feels that he was great, but that there are millions of people who feel that and so many, like you, who are honoring it.”

Eugene told Laura Ingraham that his mother is a strong woman who is holding up well. “I don’t know that the Lord could design a better support network,” he said. That includes “a built-in priest,” the justice’s son, Paul.

Justice Scalia, who was a devout Catholic, joked during an interview that Eugene and his other sons were relieved when Paul decided to “take one for the team” and become a priest. (Read more from “Antonin Scalia’s Son Just Revealed What He Thinks Caused His Father’s Death” HERE)

_____________________________________

Scalia’s Son Calls the Conspiracy Theories About His Dad’s Death a ‘Hurtful Distraction’

By Allan Smith. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s eldest son is slamming the wild conspiracy theories about his father’s death on Saturday at the age of 79.

“It’s, I think, a distraction from a great man and his legacy at a time when there’s so much to be said about that and to help people even more fully appreciate that,” Eugene Scalia said on Laura Ingraham’s radio show Wednesday. “And, on a personal level, I think it’s a bit of a hurtful distraction for a family that’s mourning.”

He added that his father “would have been the first to tell you … that we’re from dust, we return to dust, your life could be taken from you at any instant.”

“He lived this incredibly full and active life,” he continued. “But I knew, and he knew, that he was at a place in life where he could be taken from this world at any time.” (Read more from “Scalia’s Son Calls the Conspiracy Theories About His Dad’s Death a ‘Hurtful Distraction'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Recent National Poll Reveals Major Turn Around in GOP Race

/4 Comments/in , /by

By Mark Murray. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has fallen behind Ted Cruz in the national GOP horserace, according to a brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

In the poll, Cruz is the first choice of 28 percent of Republican primary voters, while Trump gets 26 percent. They’re followed by Marco Rubio at 17 percent, John Kasich at 11 percent, Ben Carson at 10 percent and Jeb Bush at 4 percent.

The results from the poll — conducted after Trump’s victory in New Hampshire and Saturday’s GOP debate in South Carolina — are a significant reversal from last month, when Trump held a 13-point lead over Cruz, 33 percent to 20 percent.

Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted this survey with Democratic pollster Peter Hart and his firm Hart Research Associates, says Trump’s drop could signal being “right on top of a shift in the campaign.” (Read more from “Recent National Poll Reveals Major Turn Around in GOP Race” HERE)

__________________________________

New Polls Disagree on Who’s Leading GOP Presidential Race

By CBS New York. Two new polls on Wednesday night painted very different pictures of the Republican side of the presidential race.

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is now beating New York real estate mogul Donald Trump 28 to 26 percent nationally. It marks the first time Trump has been knocked from first place in any national poll.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) came in third in the poll with 17 percent, Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 11 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 10 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 4 percent.

But a Quinnipiac Poll showed Trump with a 20 point lead and Cruz in third place behind Rubio.

In that poll, Trump had 39 percent, Rubio 19 percent, Cruz 18 percent, Kasich 6 percent, and Bush and Carson each 4 percent. (Read more from “New Polls Disagree on Who’s Leading GOP Presidential Race” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Gun-Rights Battle Heats up in GOP Primary

/2 Comments/in , /by

The gun-rights debate has returned to the forefront of the Republican presidential battle as the candidates charge into Saturday’s South Carolina primary, going to great lengths to prove their steadfast support of the Second Amendment.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are locked in a nasty fight over the issue, as Cruz effectively argues the billionaire businessman would, if elected, abolish gun rights.

“If Donald Trump becomes president, the Second Amendment will be written out of the Constitution, because it is abundantly clear that Donald Trump is not a conservative,” Cruz told ABC News on Sunday, the morning after a GOP debate in Greenville . . .

“Cruz does lie,” Trump said Wednesday at a South Carolina rally, after earlier declaring, “I’m the strongest person on the stage for the Second Amendment.” He also said Wednesday that he and his sons are “proud” National Rifle Association members.

Jeb Bush, meanwhile, drew considerable attention this week for tweeting a picture of a personalized gun with his name etched into it. Next to the photo was a single word: “America.” (Read more from “Gun-Rights Battle Heats up in GOP Primary” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

7 Second Video Summing up 2016 Election Is Going SUPER Viral

/1 Comment/in , /by

The 2016 race for the White House has seen its ups and down – downs coming mainly from whatever comes out of Hillary Clinton’s and Bernie Sanders’ mouths – but it has also been very entertaining.

Here’s a funny mashup of some candidates making, um, awkward noises…

Clinton barking like a dog was great. Maybe she’s telling everyone that she needs to be kept outside the White House and not let in! (Read more from “7 Second Video Summing up 2016 Election Is Going SUPER Viral” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Rubio Supported Amnesty as Far Back as 1998

/2 Comments/in , /by

By Alex Pfeiffer. While serving as a city commissioner in West Miami, Marco Rubio voted in favor of a city resolution urging the federal government to give Honduran illegal immigrants permanent resident status and free them from risk of deportation, according to documents obtained by The Daily Caller.

The 1998 city resolution, #98-16, is titled “Resolution of the City of West Miami urging the federal government and Immigration and Naturalization Service to accord same status to Hondurans as has been afforded to Nicaraguans.”
In the year prior, the “Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act” was enacted into law. This allowed for Nicaraguan, Cuban, Salvadorian, Guatemalan and former Soviet bloc migrants who had applied for asylum to receive permanent resident status and a stay of removal.

In the minutes and agenda for the city commission meeting, adjustment for status of Peruvian immigrants is also mentioned. However, the passed resolution only pertains to Hondurans. (Read more from “Rubio Supported Amnesty as Far Back as 1998” HERE)

__________________________________

Gov. Nikki Haley Endorses Marco Rubio in South Carolina

By Jacqueline Alemany. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Marco Rubio on Wednesday, giving the Florida Senator a highly coveted endorsement just three days before the state heads to the polls.

“I wanted somebody with fight. I wanted somebody with passion. I wanted somebody that had conviction to do the right thing. But I wanted somebody humble enough that remember that you work for all the people,” she said. “I wanted somebody who was going to go and show my parents that the best decision they ever made for their children was coming to America. We say that every day is a great day in South Carolina–ladies and gentlemen, if we elect Marco Rubio every day will be a great day in America.”

Rubio followed Haley’s speech with praise, saying she “embodies for me everything that I want the Republican Party and the conservative movement to be about, everything it is about.”

The endorsement, which was unveiled at a joint campaign event in Chapin, S.C., adds to Rubio’s support among the state’s Republican establishment: he had previously picked up the backing of South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Trey Gowdy. (Read more from “Gov. Nikki Haley Endorses Marco Rubio in South Carolina” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Obama Golfing Rather Than Attending Justice Scalia’s Funeral?

/20 Comments/in , /by

By Halimah Abdullah. President Barack Obama will not attend Justice Antonin Scalia’s funeral Saturday, the White House confirmed.

Instead, the president will pay his respects on Friday, when Scalia’s body lies in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court building. Vice President Joe Biden will attend Scalia’s funeral at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the White House said Wednesday during a press briefing.

When pressed for clarification on Obama missing the funeral, White House press secretary Josh Earnest repeated that “the president will pay his respects at the Supreme Court on Friday and he’ll be joined with the first lady when he does that.”

When asked whether Obama’s Saturday plans include golfing, Earnest stressed instead that the president believes it is important to honor Scalia’s life and service . . .

Despite push back from Republicans who say Obama shouldn’t nominate a replacement in an election year, the White House made it clear Wednesday that the Constitution gives the president the right to select a “well qualified candidate” to the Supreme Court. (Read more from “Obama Golfing, Will Not Attend Justice Scalia’s Funeral?” HERE)

________________________________

UPDATE: Obama Holed Up in White House for Scalia’s Funeral, Would Normally Have Been Golfing

By Richard Wolf. President Obama stayed at the White House on a day he ordinarily might have played golf, leaving the limelight to a justice with whom he disagreed on just about everything. That prompted GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump to tweet, “I wonder if President Obama would have attended the funeral of Justice Scalia if it were held in a Mosque?”

…Into the breach stepped Father Paul Scalia, one of the justice’s nine children, who presided over his father’s 90-minute funeral Mass at the soaring Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. In his 16-minute homily, the younger Scalia hailed “a man loved by many, scorned by others … known for great controversy and for great compassion,” before clarifying that he meant Jesus of Nazareth.

“God blessed dad with a deep Catholic faith,” he said, and a love of country — a blessing that’s lost “when faith is banned from the public square.” That was the closest he came to a political statement in a homily intended to bring mourners together rather than fan the flames of political division.

Throughout the service, Scalia spoke more often of his father’s faith and belief in God, Jesus Christ and the Hereafter, and his hope he would be deemed worthy of it. Like the majestic church inhabited by messy construction scaffolding, he said Justice Scalia was a work in progress. (Read more from this story HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Alaska: State of Chaos?

/1 Comment/in , /by

Our regular readers know we long for good news but are dedicated to connecting logical dots wherever they may lead.

The connections between politics, economics and energy demand that they be looked at as a whole, not separately–for they truly are all connected.

[The] avalanche of political, economic and energy news is both broad and deep.

The connection we see among these dots forms a worrisome picture.

That picture today reflects a rudderless ship of state.

Alaska’s governor is loud, dogmatic and demanding but vacillates between contrary positions, as today’s news and an unremarkable year in office demonstrate.

The legislature is struggling to put the state’s budget and fiscal crisis in order without stable navigation from the helm.

The oil and gas industry, upon which the state government and private economy depend, is trying valiantly to maintain its own stable course amid the stormy political winds and waves.

We would hate to label Alaska a “State of Chaos”. But if decision makers and citizens do not connect the dots and see their state as it is, there is little hope for correcting its dangerous course.

We hope someone or several Alaskans with extraordinary leadership skills can now emerge to diplomatically but decisively and wisely calm the winds, waves and storms of uncertainty and unnecessary dispute.

We will eagerly jump on that good news as soon as it rises and distinguishes itself.

We long to once again think of our land as the great, Last Frontier rather than as a troubled, declining place.

Events are moving rapidly, deteriorating, and time is of the essence.

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Dozens of Pro-Family Groups Challenge Trump in Open Letter to Answer Tough Questions

/6 Comments/in , /by

Mr. Trump:

We, the undersigned, represent millions of pro-family Americans who are dedicated to a nation where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive and life is cherished. As a national alliance with nearly 40 state-based organizations, we have invited you to participate in our Presidential Teleconference Series to share your views on the issues important to values voters. We have interviewed most of the leading candidates, but after several attempts, we have not yet been able to schedule such a call with you. Therefore, we direct the following questions to you on policy issues important to our constituents:

1. After years of describing yourself as “pro-choice in every respect” — even supporting partial-birth abortion — you now say that you are pro-life. Your explanation for this change of position – that a baby who was nearly aborted ended up being a “superstar” – is confusing, particularly since you acknowledged that if the child had been “a loser,” your pro-abortion position probably wouldn’t have changed. Please explain this utilitarian view of the sanctity of human life. Do you consider life only worth protecting if it meets certain criteria, and, if so, what are those criteria?

2. How do you square your new position on life with your statements in 2015 supporting continued taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion seller?

3. The next president is expected to nominate two to four U.S. Supreme Court justices, beginning immediately with the vacancy caused by the passing of Justice Scalia. These nominations will likely decide critical issues such as abortion. You’ve recommended your sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, for the High Court. Yet, as a federal judge, she overturned the New Jersey Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, writing that it “burdened a woman’s constitutional right to obtain an abortion.” How can we trust you to nominate judges who will respect the constitutional limits on judicial power and uphold the sanctity of human life?

4. You claim to support religious freedom, yet a leading gay-activist organization calls you “one of the best, if not the best, pro-gay Republican candidates to ever run for the presidency” – particularly because of your “standout position” when it comes to legislation that forces Christian business owners – and others of faith – to either betray their conscience or lose their business. How do you reconcile these contradictory positions?

5. You have built your campaign on lifting the economic outlook of lower-income Americans, yet you built your fortune in part on gambling, which preys on those very people. How will you make America great when you’ve run businesses associated with increased crime, bankruptcies, broken marriages and suicides?

6. The first casino in the nation to add a strip club was Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, which boasts of “36,000 square feet of adult entertainment.” What would you say to young girls and women who are concerned about a president who is directly connected with the exploitation of women?

7. As someone who claims to be a fiscal conservative, how do you justify your statements in support of a huge tax increase and government bailouts. Regarding the bank bailouts, you even stated: “I do agree with what they’re doing with the banks. Whether they fund them or nationalize them, it doesn’t matter, but you have to keep the banks going.” Perhaps most concerning of all is your continued admiration for single-payer, government-run healthcare systems. Please explain how this is consistent with the party of limited government?

8. One of your favorite campaign themes is that you are going to “run America” if elected. Considering our system of checks and balances, and especially in light of the last seven years of government by fiat, how will you demonstrate your respect for the U.S. Constitution and the limited power the Founding Fathers intended for the federal government in general, and the executive branch in particular?

Mr. Trump, we look forward to your response to these, and many other questions, affecting the lives of American families nationwide.

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.