Meghan McCain: ‘We’re Not All Crazy Rednecks’

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Meghan McCain said she respects the Republican Party, but wants to make clear: Some GOPers are crazy rednecks. She’s just not one of them.

In an interview with Politico, she also tried to make clear that she’s not a voice for young Republicans.

“I don’t espouse myself to be the voice of young Republicans at all,” she said. “I never have, and people sometimes want to say I go around saying I’m the voice of young Republicans. That’s not true.”

She said she’s only trying to show the public that the party is home to many voices — and not all are radical and fringe.

“We’re not all crazy rednecks,” she said, to Politico, adding that the party could use more members akin to Sen. Marco Rubio, whom she described as “more on the pulse” of where the GOP should head. “I’m just frustrated that nobody seems to be listening to reason. … People within the Republican Party don’t have to listen to me. But at some point they will have to listen to facts, to trends. … We’re losing young voters, women voters and minority voters.”

Read more from this story HERE.

The GI Bill isn’t Good Enough for Veterans

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Early in his first term, President Barack Obama signed the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The new law provided much-needed reforms to the traditional GI Bill, such as simplified tuition rates, the ability to transfer entitlements to dependents and expanded access to higher education for many veterans.

Unfortunately, there are still a few kinks in the system that prevent veterans from taking full advantage of these benefits. Byzantine rules imposed by the bureaucracy are difficult to understand, making access difficult. For example, many benefits assume a four-year degree track, meaning veterans who graduate early often leave money on the table and that those who graduate late run out too quickly. Additionally, student veterans must rely on untrained school administrators for assistance, resulting in frequent delays. Finally, many veterans qualify for the GI Bill but have already completed their degrees, putting them in the unfortunate position of qualifying for educational benefits but unable to use them.

Adding to the frustration, and unlike most other benefits, many veterans were required to pay for their educational benefits before becoming qualified. For example, particularly for those covered by the traditional GI Bill, military members had to complete their service commitments honorably and pay up to $1,200 from their own paychecks in order to “buy in” and qualify for benefits. When these veterans are later denied full access to their benefits because of red tape or incomprehensible rules, the costs can run into the thousands of dollars.

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Obama Administration had Restrictions on NSA Reversed in 2011

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The Obama administration secretly won permission from a surveillance court in 2011 to reverse restrictions on the National Security Agency’s use of intercepted phone calls and e-mails, permitting the agency to search deliberately for Americans’ communications in its massive databases, according to interviews with government officials and recently declassified material.

In addition, the court extended the length of time that the NSA is allowed to retain intercepted U.S. communications from five years to six years — and more under special circumstances, according to the documents, which include a recently released 2011 opinion by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, then chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

What had not been previously acknowledged is that the court in 2008 imposed an explicit ban — at the government’s request — on those kinds of searches, that officials in 2011 got the court to lift the bar and that the search authority has been used.

Together the permission to search and to keep data longer expanded the NSA’s authority in significant ways without public debate or any specific authority from Congress. The administration’s assurances rely on legalistic definitions of the term “target” that can be at odds with ordinary English usage. The enlarged authority is part of a fundamental shift in the government’s approach to surveillance: collecting first, and protecting Americans’ privacy later.

“The government says, ‘We’re not targeting U.S. persons,’ ” said Gregory T. Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology. “But then they never say, ‘We turn around and deliberately search for Americans’ records in what we took from the wire.’ That, to me, is not so different from targeting Americans at the outset.”

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Some See Biblical Visions of Doom in Syria Trouble

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Photo Credit: Florida Today

Photo Credit: Florida Today

The deadly violence percolating half a world away in Syria and the warnings of a possible U.S. attack have some people not only looking ahead to what might happen in the coming days — but also looking backward into ancient, apocalyptic prophecies in the pages of the Old Testament.

In recent weeks, some dire prophecies have turned up on websites, in book stores, as the subject of Bible studies and in sermons by some Christians and others who see a link between the old passages and modern-day events in Egypt, Libya and Syria.

“Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city, and will become a fallen ruin,” reads Isaiah 17, a passage some Christians say they believe details a horrific event that leaves the city uninhabitable and leads to worldwide tribulation and the second coming of Christ.

Damascus is the Syrian capital and one of the world’s oldest cities.

Another passage in Isaiah 19 deals with civil war in Egypt and the rise of a “fierce king.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Benghazi Whistleblower: I’ve Been ‘Punished’ for Speaking Out

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punishedGregory Hicks, the former deputy chief of mission in Libya who testified before Congress about the 9/11 attacks on an American diplomatic facility earlier this year, believes he has been “punished” for speaking out about the Obama administration’s response the night of the attack. He said he believes at least two of the Americans lost that night could have been saved if the United States had responded in time.

“I don’t know why I was punished,” Hicks said in an interview with ABC’s This Week. “I don’t know why I was shunted aside, put in a closet if you will.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Early Turnout Strong in Colorado Recall Effort on Gun-Control Legislation

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Picture - Colorado_recallColorado residents go to the polls Tuesday to vote on whether to recall two state senators who supported stricter gun laws in the aftermath of two 2012 mass shootings.

The recall vote effort appears to be the strongest backlash to such state votes — considering Democratic-leaning Connecticut, Maryland and New York passed similar legislation without resulting in a recall effort getting on a ballot.

Gun rights advocates launched the recall initiative against Colorado Senate President John Morse and Sen. Angela Giron because they voted for stricter gun laws, including limiting the size of ammunition magazines and requiring universal background checks.

Early voting in Colorado’s first legislative recall elections has been strong so far.

A spokesman for the clerk’s office said turnout was similar to that on a busy day during a presidential election.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Offers Assad Secret Deal

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

On the eve of a critical Capitol Hill discussion on Syria and two days before his address to the nation, President Obama offered Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a way out of any U.S. bombing campaign.

Informed Middle Eastern intelligence officials tell WND the U.S. passed a message to Assad through Russia offering a deal that would ensure against U.S. military action if the Syrian leader agrees to the following terms:

Serious political reforms that will result in free and fair presidential elections.

Assad will not be allowed to run in future presidential elections and agrees to step down from power.

An international committee will supervise control of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal.

Read more from this story HERE.

WATCH: Mark Levin discusses The Liberty Amendments at Reagan Library with Q&A

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Photo Credit: CNS News

Photo Credit: CNS News

Mark Levin recently returned to the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California to talk about his new #1 New York Times bestselling book, The Liberty Amendments.

Levin begins his work, “I undertook this project not because I believe the Constitution, as originally structured, is outdated and outmoded, thereby requiring modernization through amendments, but because the opposite–that is, the necessity and urgency of restoring constitutional republicanism and preserving the civil society from the growing authoritarianism of the federal Leviathan.”

In the interview at the Reagan Library, Levin quotes George Mason, who in September 1787, only days before the close of the Constitutional Convention, identified the danger of the document only giving Congress the power to initiate amendments to the Constitution. Mason believed, “no amendments of the proper kind would ever be obtained by the people, if the Government should become oppressive,” which would likely be the case over time.

The Framers voted to change Article V (regarding the amendments process) to make provision for the states to propose new amendments to the Constitution without congressional approval. By a vote of two-thirds of the states, a convention can be called to adopt new amendments, which must then be ratified by three-quarters of the states before becoming the law of the land.

Levin argues we have reached a place in our history (foreseen by Mason) in which the federal government has become so pervasive and oppressive that it is a threat to our liberty and the American way of life.

Among the amendments he sees as essential to restoring freedom are term limit amendments on Congress and the Supreme Court, as well as ones to limit federal taxing and spending authority, to curtail the power of the federal bureaucracy, to narrowly define Congress’ authority under the Commerce Clause, to return power to the state legislatures to choose their U.S. Senators, to restrict eminent domain authority, and to require proper photo identification to vote in all the states.

Watch the discussion.

Read more from this story HERE.

107-Year-Old Arkansas Man, Monroe Isadore, Killed in Shootout with S.W.A.T.

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Photo Credit: THV11

Photo Credit: THV11

A 107-year old Pine Bluff man died Saturday after a shootout with officers and S.W.A.T. members. The Pine Bluff Police Dept. released the following information about the incident on Saturday evening.

“On September 7, 2013, at approximately 4:25 p.m., Officers of the Pine Bluff Police Department responded to a disturbance at 1411 W. 16th.

When they arrived, they were able to determine that an Aggravated Assault had occurred against two people at the residence. The suspect, Monroe Isadore (M, 107 years old), had pointed a weapon at them. The officers had the two victims leave the residence, for their safety, and approached the door to the bedroom where Isadore was supposed to be.

When officers announced themselves, Isadore shot through the door at them. No officer was hit or injured by the gunfire…

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Gay Inmates in California Can Get Married

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Photo Credit: derekskey

Photo Credit: derekskey

With the demise of Proposition 8 — the gay marriage ban — gay inmates in California can get married to their same-sex partners, the Associated Press has reported.

In an August 30 memo, state prison officials stated that due to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that “effectively invalidated” Proposition 8, they “must accept and process applications for a same-sex marriage between an inmate and a non-incarcerated person in the community, in the same manner as they do between opposite sex couples.”

In case you didn’t notice the wording, there is a caveat in that statement…

While a gay inmate can marry a person who is not jailed, two gay inmates cannot get married.

Read more from this story HERE.