Unreal: The GOP Establishment Resurrects Crony Ex-Im Bank

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It’s hard to be a proud Republican these days. The party of limited government has capitulated to a plethora of Obama’s big government demands, while achieving no conservative victories of their own.

Yet, it’s one thing to surrender to Obama. But it’s an entirely different thing when the Republican party actively seeks to promote their own big government, cronyist agenda.

Once again, the Republican establishment is up to its old antics.

Congressional Republicans are now attempting to strip any role Congress has in stymieing the operations of the big business, lobbyist-loving, taxpayer-funded Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im).

The Ex-Im Bank is an independent government agency that provides taxpayer-backed loans and insurance to foreign businesses that seek to purchase American products. Yet, most of the loans protect goods purchased from the largest, and wealthiest, U.S. businesses.

A Mercatus Center study finds that at least 76 percent of the billions of dollars in financial assistance ends up with companies like Boeing, General Electric, Applied Materials, and Caterpillar. These are multibillion dollar companies that should not be supported by the taxpayer.

Last year, conservatives were successful in temporarily allowing the bank’s charter to lapse. However, that victory was short-lived when five months later the Republican establishment renewed the charter by forcing it into the “must-pass” highway funding bill.

Still, conservatives had one more trick up their sleeve.

Although the bank returned to operations, it was able to do so only partially. It still faced another problem: the bank’s charter requires a quorum of at least three board members to vote on any deals in excess of $10 million. But the board currently only has two members; the third board member, an Obama nominee, is currently help up in the Senate.

Without the necessary board members, the Ex-Im Bank is seriously curtailed. According to the Financial Times, more than two-thirds of the loan money provided by the Bank cannot be spent without at least three members on the board; thus, the Bank can do very little.

The conservative hero responsible for delaying this nomination is Republican Senator Richard Shelby, R-Ala. (C, 70%). Shelby chairs the Senate Banking Committee, that has jurisdiction over the bank and the nomination process. So far, Shelby, who opposes the mission of the Ex-Im Bank, and refused to process the nomination to fill the third seat on its board, is the only one doing anything to attempt to stop this from going forward.

As usual, every battle fought by conservatives seems to be met with a more ruthless counterattack by the Republican establishment. That brings us to the latest attempt to crush this conservative cause …

Originally, I raised the concern that Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. (F, 44%) may attempt to bypass Shelby’s committee altogether and bring the nominee up for a vote on the Senate floor. While that hasn’t transpired (yet!), there is a more deceptive plan in the works.

On Tuesday, the House Appropriation Committee debated the annual State and Foreign Operations spending bill. In doing so, Republican amendments were considered. One amendment that was considered, and passed, was an amendment by Republican Charlie Dent, R-Pa. (F, 30%).

Dent’s amendment actually modifies the Ex-Im Bank’s charter by doing away with the need for a board to approve any financial transactions larger than $10 million, through September 2019. This effectively removes the important oversight and accountability at the Bank by simply scuttling the need for the board to be involved in the Bank’s actions.

That’s just how desperate Republicans are to re-instate their corporate cronyism. Why fight a nominee when you can just legislate his importance at the bank out of existence? This is cronyism on steroids.

That’s the pathetic nature of the Republican Party today. This is the party that we’ve become: a party that no longer believes in the spirit of political debate, or the adherence to their own process or principles. It’s a party that simply doesn’t recognize the voices of its own members, and would rather legislate away the tools and rights of those members than listen to them. This is the state of our party – and it’s certainly nothing to celebrate. (For more from the author of “Unreal: The GOP Establishment Resurrects Crony Ex-Im Bank” please click HERE)

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The Senate’s Final Act Before Recess? More Immigration From the Middle East!

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While everyone is fixated on the drama in Cleveland and Trump’s choice of a running mate, our political class is still violating our sovereignty and security with endless migrants from the Middle East. We have so many emergencies within our national security apparatus and military that can and should be addressed within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), yet the GOP-Senate chose to focus on more immigration as their final act before recess.

The Senate passed the Shaheen, D-N.H. (F, 2%) motion to instruct the conference committee negotiating the House-Senate differences in the NDAA to authorize a potentially unlimited amount Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) for Afghanis. Only 12 Republicans opposed the motion, which is non-binding, but makes it likely that an increase in SIVs will be in the final conference report:

Cruz, R-Texas (A, 97)
Grassley, R-Iowa (D, 68%)
Heller, R-Nev. (F, 57%)
Inhofe, R-Okla. (C, 74%)
Lankford, R-Okla. (C, 73%)
Paul, R-Ky. (A, 94%)
Risch, R-Idaho (C, 78%)
Rubio, R-Fla. (C, 79%)
Scott, R-S.C. (B, 89%)
Sessions, R-Ala. (B, 80%)
Shelby, R-Ala. (C, 70%)
Vitter, R-La. (C, 71%)

SIVs are afforded to those foreign nationals who serve as interpreters or contractors for the U.S. military abroad. On the surface, this seems like a prudent and compassionate move, and proponents of this are certainly playing the emotional card. However, this specific plan and the broader goal of getting involved in Islamic civil wars and then bringing in individuals from those wars is completely backwards.

First, as it relates to the Afghan SIVs specifically, Congress already added an additional 3,000 visas for these individuals plus an unlimited number for family members in last year’s NDAA. Most of those visas have not even been issued yet. So why would members of the Senate open the floodgates for even more visas at a cost of $446 million (the cost of just 4,000 additional visas, which was the original objective of the Shaheen amendment)? Remember, SIV recipients are treated like refugees and are immediately eligible for all social entitlement and resettlement programs. They are also permitted to bring in an unlimited number of spouses and children. In recent years, the program has been expanded for other support members beyond interpreters or those helping our soldiers on the front lines – and this program is in addition to a separate visa program specifically for interpreters.

Moreover, with the endless flow of immigration from the Middle East, why wouldn’t they at least cut other areas of immigration, such as the Syrian refugees who are arriving in the hundreds every week? Senators Sessions, R-Ala. (B, 80%) and Grassley, R-Iowa (D, 68%) attempted to negotiate a deal to offset the visa increase by reducing the number of visas issued from the diversity lottery. Yet, McCain, R-Ariz. (F, 35%) and the Democrats balked at the plan because their solution to everything is more immigration across the board.

Which brings us to the broader point: why is immigration the solution to everything? Why should our national security be dependent on letting in more people from the volatile countries we fight in? This cuts to the core of our failure to identify the enemy. The enemy is not just Al Qaeda or ISIS. The enemy is Sharia-based Islam. Even if we could possibly vet these people for not being double agents for the Taliban, a dubious task given the endless “green on blue” attacks in Afghanistan, most of these people believe in Sharia. Heck, the Afghani Constitution and government, for which our special operators are dying, is a sharia-based system. While some of those who come here will be as loyal to us as they were when serving our military, there is no way to ensure that either some of them or certainly their children, who are reared in a house sheltered by Sharia adherence, will not become problematic over time. Just last year, Bilal Abood, an Iraqi SIV recipient, who has since become a naturalized citizen, was arrested in Texas for suspected ties to ISIS. On top of that, thanks to the refusal of Congress to bring up Senator Ted Cruz’sR, Texas (A, 97%) Expatriate Terror Act, Abood will keep his citizenship.

As I’ve noted before, our post-9/11 response has been intellectually dyslexic because we fail to understand what we are fighting. In response to the horrible terror attack that was rooted in imprudent immigration policies, our military was dispatched to engage in endless operations in Afghanistan and Iraq … only to bring in more security risks through immigration from some of the most dangerous parts of the world.

What is so sad is that Republicans could have used this must-pass bill to address a number of emergencies in our military. Obama is remaking our military with transgender mandates, anti-religious bigotry, women in infantry at all costs, and terribly myopic missions in Syria and elsewhere. In addition, as administration officials testified at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today, roughly 20,000 illegal aliens convicted of rape, robbery and murder (not including the tens of thousands charged with other crimes) were released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just last year. Why was there no sense of urgency to address any of these issues before breaking for summer recess? When will members of Congress put our sovereignty, security and society before other political interests?

Alas, Republicans can always be counted upon to act with alacrity to promote some of the most harmful policies of the Left. (For more from the author of “The Senate’s Final Act Before Recess? More Immigration From the Middle East!” please click HERE)

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REALLY, HON, IT’S CUZ YOUR LAST NAME AIN’T CLINTON: FL Dem Rips Feds for Investigating Her and Not ISIS

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Politicians have a well-earned reputation for being sleazy, but a corrupt Florida congresswoman is in a class of her own for suggesting that federal agents could have prevented the Orlando terrorist attack if they weren’t preoccupied investigating her. Last week the veteran lawmaker, Democrat Corrine Brown, and her chief of staff were slapped with a 24-count federal indictment for using a phony education charity as a “personal slush fund.” The disgraced legislator, who is black, also played the race card by comparing her indictment to the recent fatal police shootings of two black men that have ignited nationwide civil unrest.

First elected to Congress in 1992, Brown represents Florida’s fifth district which spans from Jacksonville to Orlando. The 69-year-old lawmaker and her trusted assistant, Elias Simmons, used a fake charity that was supposed to give scholarships to poor, minority students to get hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, according to the feds. Brown used her position as a congresswoman to solicit charitable donations from corporate entities that she “knew by virtue of her position in the U.S. House of Representatives,” according to federal authorities. The money was used to pay for lavish receptions, luxury boxes for a Beyonce concert and a professional football game, repairs to Brown’s car and several vacations. More than $735,000 of the charitable contributions went to pay a close family member for a job in Brown’s office that involved no work, the indictment states.

After getting slammed with charges of mail and wire fraud, conspiracy, obstruction and filing of false tax returns in Jacksonville, the disgraced congresswoman went on a tirade outside the federal courthouse that she proclaimed was built “without minority participation” as if that was relevant to her case. “I represent Orlando,” Brown said. “These are the same agents that was not able to do a thorough investigation of the agent and we ended up with 50 people dead and over 58 people injured,” she said referring to the massacre carried out by terrorist Omar Mateen in an Orlando nightclub. “Same district! Same Justice Department! Same agents!” Brown also said the prosecution is racially motivated and wrote this on her blog: “I’m not the first black elected official to be persecuted and, sad to say, I won’t be the last.”

A political columnist for the Orlando Sentinel countered Brown’s claim that she’s a victim of racism by pointing this out in a piece published this week: “The Justice Department — which happens to be run by a black attorney general who answers to a black president — targets shady politicians, not black ones.” The column also reveals that “Brown is notorious for getting fat wads of campaign cash from the industries she helps regulate.” For instance, Brown sits on the House Transportation Committee and transportation industries—railroads, trucking companies and transportation unions—account for three of her top four industry donors. Let’s not forget that back in 1998 the House Ethics Committee investigated Brown involving several issues, including a $10,000 check she got from a Baptist official in legal trouble and a pricey car her daughter got from one of the congresswoman’s millionaire Florida pals embroiled in a bribery scandal.

Another interesting tidbit is that the president of Brown’s phony nonprofit, Carla Wiley, pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to commit wire fraud surrounding the scam. As part of the plea she agreed to cooperate with investigators, so Brown is probably in a boatload of trouble. Under the deal Wiley admitted to conspiring with an unnamed public official—referred to as “Person A”—who used an “official position to solicit contributions to One Door for Education and to induce individuals and corporate entities to make donations to One Door for Education based on false and fraudulent representations that the funds would be used for charitable purposes.” Instead, federal investigators revealed at the time that the money went toward personal gain for the co-conspirators. (For more from the author of “REALLY, HON, IT’S CUZ YOUR LAST NAME AIN’T CLINTON: FL Dem Rips Feds for Investigating Her and Not ISIS” please click HERE)

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How the GOP Senate Is Boosting Obama’s Judicial Legacy

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Republican senators consistently accuse President Barack Obama of refusing to follow the law and exceeding his constitutional powers. Yet they’ve been unwilling to draw the line when it comes to giving Obama’s judicial nominees lifetime appointments to the federal bench.

So far in 2016, the Republican-led Senate has confirmed nine Obama judges. And that number could continue to climb when the Senate returns from recess in September as several GOP senators press for action on other Obama nominees.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved three more Obama judicial nominees, moving them a step closer to lifetime appointments. That makes 27 judicial nominees awaiting action on the Senate floor.

While the most high-profile nomination—Obama’s pick of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court—languishes without a hearing, the Senate did confirm two other nonjudicial, albeit controversial nominees this year: Carla Hayden won approval to lead the Library of Congress on Wednesday and John King was confirmed as education secretary in March.

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., pushed for Hayden’s confirmation for a 10-year term at the Library of Congress despite her history of radical left-wing activism, which triggered opposition from Concerned Women for America and Heritage Action for America. She’ll hold the job for nearly a decade after Obama leaves office.

Ten years isn’t nearly as long as a lifetime, though. And because federal judges serve lifetime appointments, Obama’s judges are likely to leave their mark long after he departs the White House.

That concern—coupled with complaints about Obama’s disregard for the Constitution and rule of law—has prompted some Republican senators like Dan Sullivan of Alaska to oppose the president’s picks.

“With regards to judges, these are lifetime appointments, which Sen. Sullivan considers very carefully,” his spokesman told The Daily Signal. “He doesn’t want the courts packed with nominees from a president who does not understand the rule of law and regularly engages in executive branch overreach with no regard for the Constitution or the separation of powers.”

Only two of Obama’s nine judicial nominees have faced significant opposition from Republicans on the Senate floor this year. Wilhelmina Wright received 36 no votes in January and Paula Xinis had 34 no votes in May. Both are now U.S. district judges.

Even before Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death triggered a fight over his vacancy, Heritage Action, a sister organization of The Heritage Foundation, urged the Senate in January to halt all confirmations of Obama judges.

“President Obama has repeatedly ignored the separation of powers over the past seven years,” Heritage Action CEO Michael A. Needham said at the time. “Given the administration’s disregard for Congress’s role in our constitutional system of government, the Senate should refuse to confirm any more of the president’s judicial nominees.”

While many Republicans agree, the Senate Judiciary Committee has slowly and methodically processed some nominees.

At a hearing for two Obama judicial nominees earlier this week, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, boasted that he’s held more hearings on Obama nominees than the former Democrat chairman, Sen. Pat Leahy of Vermont, did for President George W. Bush’s nominees in the 110th Congress (49 compared to 47).

Grassley, who is facing re-election in Iowa this year, has fended off attacks from his Democrat opponent by stressing progress on Obama’s judges. “To say that President Obama hasn’t been treated fairly during his presidency isn’t based in reality,” a Judiciary Committee spokeswoman said in May.

Grassley’s decision to keep moving nominees through the Judiciary Committee runs counter to the senator’s complaints that “Obama has exceeded his constitutional powers and failed to uphold the law.” Despite this critique, Grassley has played an active role in cutting deals and keeping the Senate’s executive calendar stocked with nominations.

In December, Grassley brokered a deal between Republican and Democrat leaders for two Iowa judges to get Senate floor votes in exchange for three of Obama’s liberal judicial nominees. The Iowa nominees, Leonard Strand and Rebecca Ebinger, were unanimously confirmed in February. The three liberal nominees included Luis Restrepo of Pennsylvania, John Vazquez of New Jersey, and Wilhelmina Wright of Minnesota. They were confirmed in January, and only Wright faced notable GOP opposition.

Grassley’s spokeswoman did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.

The other four Obama nominees to get votes in 2016 include Waverly Crenshaw Jr. of Tennessee, Paula Xinis of Maryland, Robert Rossiter Jr. of Nebraska, and Brian Martinotti of New Jersey.

Two of those judges (Crenshaw and Rossiter) had their home-state Republicans pushing for action. Facing pressure from his own conference, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., scheduled floor votes—despite his own misgivings about Obama. McConnell, for instance, led the Senate’s rebuke of Obama’s executive actions on immigration by citing his disregard for the Constitution.

“Whether we’re Republicans or Democrats, this kind of partisan overreach should worry all of us—no matter who is in the White House,” McConnell said in a Senate speech in April. “Because not only is the president’s blatant refusal to follow the law an extraordinary power grab, it’s a direct challenge to Congress’s constitutional authority—and a direct attack on our constitutional order.”

Since delivering those remarks, however, McConnell has allowed votes on four Obama judges who won confirmation to lifetime appointments. He’s also voted for all nine Obama judges, one of only three GOP senators to do so. (Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Orrin Hatch of Utah are the other two.)

According to a report in Politico, several more confirmation votes could follow if Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas; Pat Toomey, R-Pa.; and Hatch are able to convince McConnell to schedule votes on their home-state nominees.

The one thing that could stop them is a longstanding Senate tradition of pausing on judicial confirmations as the president’s term nears its end. Known as the Thurmond-Leahy rule (after former South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond and Leahy), it is an unwritten rule that typically kicks in around summer recess. That starts Friday when the Senate adjourns until September.

If the Senate were to take no further action during the next six months of Obama’s presidency, he will have secured confirmation of 329 judges. By comparison, Bush had 312 confirmed at this point in his second term. (For more from the author of “How the GOP Senate Is Boosting Obama’s Judicial Legacy” please click HERE)

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FBI Agents Irked at Unusual Actions in Clinton Email Probe, See ‘Inside Deal’

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The words “inside deal” are being used by FBI sources as they discuss the agency’s conclusion not to seek prosecution against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for her use of a private, unsecure email server to handle classified material.

The New York Post on Wednesday reported that current and former FBI agents said it was highly unusual that agents who were part of the yearlong probe into Clinton’s emails were required by the agency to sign something called a “Case Briefing Acknowledgment” form that, in essence, prevents them from publicly disclosing what they found out about Clinton’s emails.

“This is very, very unusual. I’ve never signed one, never circulated one to others,” said one retired FBI chief.

A current FBI agent agreed. “I have never heard of such a form. Sounds strange,” the agent said.

The Post also quoted agents expressing “disappointment” over the decision not to press charges against Clinton. In announcing the decision, FBI Director James Comey said, “To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions.”

“FBI agents believe there was an inside deal put in place after the Loretta Lynch/Bill Clinton tarmac meeting,” one source told The Post.

The week before the FBI announced its decision, Lynch and former President Bill Clinton had a clandestine meeting on her plane at the Phoenix airport. The meeting was widely assailed as a conflict of interest. Hillary Clinton has reportedly expressed an interest in keeping Lynch in her job if Clinton wins the presidential election. (For more from the author of “FBI Agents Irked at Unusual Actions in Clinton Email Probe, See ‘Inside Deal'” please click HERE)

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The 5 Bills House Conservatives Plan to Push Before Election

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Protecting religious liberties, keeping Americans secure from foreign and domestic threats, and holding government accountable are the goals of the House Freedom Caucus for 2016.

The members of the Freedom Caucus held a press conference Wednesday to unveil their policy priorities. Five bills were at the forefront of the proposal.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said the five bills are specific priorities that can be passed before the presidential election and reflect what the American people want.

“So to the American people, we say we hear you,” Jordan said. “We want to spend more time on legislation that will restore and protect your freedoms, and we do have time to take action this fall. And the House Freedom Caucus is committed to doing so.”

Here is a recap of each bill:

First Amendment Defense Act

Introduced almost a year ago, the First Amendment Defense Act aims to protect individuals and organizations who hold traditional views about marriage. A hearing was held Tuesday on the bill in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Rep. Raúl Labrador, R-Idaho, sponsored the legislation that would prevent those with traditional views of marriage from being denied federal grants and loans, tax-exempt status, or from being fired from the federal government.

“This bill does not alter anything or modify any civil rights protections or negate any federal anti-discrimination laws,” Labrador said at the press conference. “It’s really important to read the bill. A lot of the testimony yesterday in committee was refuted just by a simple reading of the bill.”

Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act

Introduced in May, the Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act has three main goals: “to help individuals receiving assistance under means-tested welfare programs obtain self-sufficiency, to provide information on total spending on means-tested welfare programs, [and] to provide an overall spending limit on means-tested welfare programs.”

Jordan sponsored the bill, but Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., discussed it at the press conference Wednesday.

“Consistently, I have found from even the most liberal to the most conservatives, there is a real desire to make sure that we provide the needs for those who are truly needy,” Meadows said. “But also, there is a real desire to hold those accountable who take advantage of the situation.”

Agency Accountability Act

Sponsored by Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., the Agency Accountability Act would require all federal agencies—except for the the U.S. Postal Service and Patent and Trademark Office—that collect money directly through fines, fees, penalties, or settlements to deposit that money in the general fund of the U.S. Treasury.

Palmer called it a “step toward restoring constitutional government,” as Article 1, Section 9, of the Constitution says money can only be drawn from the Treasury by an appropriation of Congress.

Resettlement Accountability National Security Act

The Resettlement Accountability National Security Act would suspend the admission of refugees into the United States until Congress passes a joint resolution that gives the secretary of Homeland Security the authority to continue to admit refugees.

Sponsored by Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, the act would also require the comptroller general to submit a report examining the costs of providing benefits to refugees. The report would have to be submitted within 90 days after the bill passes into law and would look at data over the last 10 years.

The bill was introduced last year and has been referred to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.

Conscience Protection Act

Originally introduced as the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act in 2011, the Conscience Protection Act is intended to prevent discrimination against providers of health services who decline involvement in abortion.

As an example, the bill, which the House passed Wednesday, mentions how California’s Department of Managed Health Care requires coverage for all elective abortions in all health plans. Despite members of Congress having questioned the Department of Health and Human Services surrounding California’s decision, the issue has not been resolved. The bill would address this and similar issues.

“Remember, the majority of Americans today are pro-life,” Rep. John Fleming, R-La., said at the press conference. “But even a greater majority believe that even if it is a woman’s choice, that they shouldn’t be forced to participate or to fund what is someone else’s choice in taking the life of a preborn human being.” (For more from the author of “The 5 Bills House Conservatives Plan to Push Before Election” please click HERE)

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Cop Accused of Trading Favors for Sex Invokes ‘Hillary Defense’

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A lawyer for one of the NYPD cops accused of doing favors for bribes — including mile-high sex with this hooker on a free trip to Las Vegas — said his client’s behavior was no worse than Hillary Clinton’s.

“It’s similar to what the FBI said about Hillary Clinton, and why she wasn’t charged,” said John Meringolo, a lawyer for James Grant, who pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court Wednesday.

“She was unaware she was committing a crime. Here, there is no crime whatsoever.”

Meringolo described his client’s alleged actions — swapping police favors for expensive gifts like the wild trip with prostitute Gabi Grecko — as mere violations of police conduct. (Read more from “Cop Accused of Trading Favors for Sex Invokes ‘Hillary Defense'” HERE)

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Look Who’s Targeting Target’s Restrooms

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It’s another case of creepy peepers snooping on women and girls in Target: A man named Sean Patrick Smith who identifies as a woman by the name of Shauna Patricia Smith was arrested on charges tied to taking photographs of women inside a dressing room at a Target retail store in Ammon, Idaho.

Target, which recently opened its bathrooms and dressing rooms to both genders, allowing users to visit the facility that most corresponded with their chosen sex – so men could use women’s facilities, and vice versa – has caused widespread outrage among shoppers. The American Family Association, for example, launched a petition signed by more than 1.3 million demanding a reversal of the open-door policy. Shareholders concerned about falling stock prices confronted CEO Brian Cornell at a June meeting in California and asked him to consider a return to single-sex bathrooms, as WND previously reported.

And Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, issued a scathing criticism of Target over what he called a policy that “encourages sexual predators and puts women and children in danger,” as WND reported.

Graham’s prediction seems to have come to pass.

Smith, a 46-year-old Idaho Falls man, was booked into the Bonneville County Jail on a felony count of voyeurism after a woman reported to deputies how a man, dressed in women’s clothing, entered the female dressing room at Target and started snapping pictures. East Idaho News reported he took pictures of the woman in the stall next to his, while she was changing. (Read more from “Look Who’s Targeting Target’s Restrooms” HERE)

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PUZZLING DISMISSAL: Still Unclear Why Dallas Gunman Was Honorably Discharged From US Military

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Almost a week after the Dallas sniper attacks, it’s still unclear how the gunman obtained an honorable discharge from the military even though Army officials sent him home from Afghanistan with a recommendation that he be thrown out of the armed forces.

An attorney appointed by the military to represent Micah Johnson in a sexual harassment case speculated last week that Johnson’s behavioral record could be more serious. The attorney says he’s now under strict orders not to discuss the matter with reporters.

Johnson, 25, served in the Army Reserve for six years before the July 7 sniper attack, which killed five Dallas police officers. (Read more from “PUZZLING DISMISSAL: Still Unclear Why Dallas Gunman Was Honorably Discharged From US Military” HERE)

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‘God’s Not Dead 2’ Billboard Nixed at GOP Convention After Being Called “Incendiary”

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Attendees arriving in Cleveland for the Republican National Convention next week will be greeted by a giant billboard with President Ronald Reagan’s image, quoting him saying, “We establish no religion in this country.” The sign was purchased by an atheist group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

What convention attendees won’t see, though, is an even larger sign with a pro-religion message that would have advertised the DVD release of God’s Not Dead 2. That’s because, after two months of back-and-forth with the movie’s distributor, the billboard company, Orange Barrel Media, may have deemed the Christian-sounding messaging needlessly provocative.

The sign, which would have measured 32 feet by 60 feet, would have draped down one side of a large building in downtown Cleveland and was to feature a picture of Melissa Joan Hart, who plays a teacher in trouble for invoking scripture in the classroom. Alongside the image of the actress was the text: “I’d rather stand with God and be judged by the world than stand with the world and be judged by God.”

Orange Barrel told Pure Flix, the distributor, it didn’t like the “judged by God” message, calling it “too political” and “way too incendiary,” according to emails obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. On another occasion, insiders said the billboard company complained that even the title of the film was considered problematic.

Early on, Orange Barrel cited Republican National Committee rules barring “scandalous” signage, though Pure Flix argued that the RNC would have no problem with their message, especially since former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is in the movie. In fact, the GOP has partnered with Pure Flix for a worship service the night prior to the start of the convention, followed by a screening of the movie (with food provided by Chick-fil-A). (Read more from “‘God’s Not Dead 2’ Billboard Nixed at GOP Convention After Being Called “Incendiary” please click HERE)

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