Wow: Discovered Interview of Antonin Scalia Reveals Who He Wanted to Replace Him

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Photo Credit: The Higgs BosonBy Marisa Schultz. Republicans clamoring for the next Supreme Court justice to follow in the ideological footsteps of Justice Antonin Scalia may have just found their road map.

In a newly unearthed 2012 interview on C-SPAN, Scalia revealed his preferred successor: Judge Frank Easterbrook, of the Chicago-based Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

“If I had to pick somebody to replace me on the Supreme Court, it would be Frank,” Scalia said. (Read more from “Wow: Discovered Interview of Antonin Scalia Reveals Who He Wanted to Replace Him” HERE)

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What Wikipedia Says About Judge Easterbrook:

Frank Hoover Easterbrook (born September 3, 1948) is a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was Chief Judge from November 2006 to October 2013, and has been a judge on the court since 1985. Easterbrook is noted for his use of economic analysis of law, his legalist approach to judicial interpretation, for his clear writing style, and for being one of the most prolific judges of his generation. Easterbrook is one of the most cited appellate judges in America

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Supreme Court Family Pays Respects to Justice Antonin Scalia

By Richard Wolf. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made one final visit Friday to the marble palace he dominated for the past three decades.

His baritone voice silenced and his mighty pen relinquished, Scalia was carried in a flag-draped casket into the court’s Great Hall and placed on the Lincoln Catafalque, which first supported President Abraham Lincoln’s casket across the street in the U.S. Capitol after his assassination in 1865.

There he was honored by the remaining eight justices and 98 of his former law clerks, all of whom stood as one of Scalia’s nine children, Rev. Paul Scalia, recited a brief prayer. The justice’s widow, Maureen and his eight other children sat before the casket, with dozens of grandchildren standing behind them.

“You have called your servant Antonin out of this world,” Rev. Scalia said. “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. May he rest in peace.” (Read more from “Supreme Court Family Pays Respects to Justice Antonin Scalia” HERE)

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Nation’s ICE Officers Detail How Marco Rubio Betrayed Them

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In an exclusive Q&A with Breitbart News, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council President Chris Crane provides never-before-heard details about the 2013 Gang of Eight immigration fight that are likely to shake up an already tumultuous presidential race.

ICE Council President, Crane represents the nation’s approximately 5,800 frontline ICE officers, agents and personnel who are responsible for enforcing America’s immigration laws in all 50 states and U.S. territories. For the first time ever, Crane details his behind-the-scenes interactions with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as Crane sought to protect the nation’s ICE officers and national security . . .

In his responses, Crane addresses an incident—first detailed by Breitbart News— in which Marco Rubio stood idly by as Crane was ejected from a Gang of Eight press conference for trying to ask a question on behalf of law enforcement . . .

BREITBART NEWS: It is well known that the Gang of Eight reached out to big business groups and amnesty groups in the process of writing the bill. When Sen. Rubio started writing his bill, did he reach out to you and other ICE officers for your ideas and input?

CRANE: Sen. Rubio never reached out to us. He surrounded himself with big business and amnesty groups, most of which were more interested in cheap labor and their own political agendas, and had no real concern for the welfare of immigrants, public safety, or the security of our nation. This while he ignored boots on the ground law enforcement officers who work within our broken immigration system every day and know better than any what’s needed to fix it. Common sense dictates that law enforcement be at the table when creating a bill like this. I think Sen. Rubio knew that, but actively chose to exclude us because of his own personal agenda. (Read more from “Nation’s ICE Officers Detail How Marco Rubio Betrayed Them” HERE)

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Dr. James Dobson Just Endorsed This Candidate for President – 2 Big Reasons Why [+video]

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Another presidential endorsement has come in, this time from a leading Christian figurehead, Dr. James Dobson. Dr. Dobson is an evangelical radio talk show host and psychologist who has been active in the political arena for over thirty years. On Wednesday, Dobson reiterated his December endorsement for Senator Cruz of the Republican party.

Dr. Dobson is the president of Family Talk, a nonprofit program which focuses on the “preservation of family”, as well as the former president of Focus on the Family. He has also authored over 30 books on the topic, advised three President’s, worked as an associate clinical professor at the University of Southern California, and earned his Ph.D. in child development, as well as numerous honorary doctoral degrees.

Dr. Dobson is viewed by some as an “expert” in family affairs. He dispenses mainly biblical advice focused on Christian marriages through his Family Talk radio program.

In a recent video, Dobson explains why Senator Cruz has his endorsement. “For us, the sanctity of human life and traditional marriage are non-negotiable. Ted has been relentless in defending the institution of marriage.” Furthermore adding, “after Donald Trump and Marco Rubio announced that they would accept the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage we knew we could not support them. Our decision was confirmed when they opposed Senator Cruz’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.” (Read more from “Dr. James Dobson Just Endorsed This Candidate for President – 2 Big Reasons Why” HERE)

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Something Huge Is Coming Back to Haunt Rubio, Cruz (and it’s way worse for Trump)

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By Cheryl Chumley. Rich Beeson, a deputy campaign manager for Sen. Marco Rubio, is causing a bit of a stir among the conservative evangelical crowd after reports surfaced he signed a petition pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to side with the pro-“gay” marriage plaintiffs in the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges.

Rubio didn’t sign the brief, which staffers with other Republican presidential campaigns, both past and present, have also signed. But Rubio, according to LifeSite News, has other ties to homosexual activists that, when combined with his campaign staffer’s signature, could prove problematic for the public-relations image he’s worked to create as a supporter of traditional marriage.

And Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, raised this point, while tweeting a reaction to the report: “Troubling if true. Would top advisors in a Rubio administration be the same?”

Eric Teetsel, Rubio’s director of faith outreach, was quick to counter that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s legal counsel, Chris Gober, also signed the brief . . .

The Christian Post reported Friday that Ted Cruz for President paid over $245,000 to the campaign strategy firm Targeted Victory in 2015. The president and senior director of the firm, Zac Moffat and Abe Adams, were also signatories. (Read more from “Something Huge Is Coming Back to Haunt Rubio, Cruz” HERE)
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Cruz Failed to Argue Pivotal Gay Rights Case, Lawrence v. Texas. Why?

By K. Eleveld. It appears that the champion of all that is sacred and true about “traditional marriage” has a teeny weeny hole in his resume: Ted Cruz ducked when faced with the opportunity to argue against LGBT rights in the 2003 Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas, which ultimately struck down sodomy laws and paved the way for future LGBT legal advances. . .

Maybe Cruz didn’t want to take on sodomy laws back in the day because he knew LGBT donors could be a real asset to his candidacies. Sure enough, Cruz’s turn with gay donors last [year] wasn’t the first time he’s taken money from gays or people who support LGBT causes:

He accepted $250,000 [in 2009] from gay donor Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, who is also a top contributor to the national gay conservative group GOProud. Thiel also gave $2 million to Club for Growth, a super political action committee that put $705,657 toward Cruz’s Senate run.

Paul Singer, a hedge fund billionaire whose son married his partner and who pushed for legalization of same-sex marriage in New York, gave Cruz $25,000 in 2009.

(Read more from this story HERE)

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Trump is the Most Gay-Friendly GOP Candidate Ever

By Emma Margolin. With his penchant for name-calling and plans to deport every undocumented immigrant living in the United States, Donald Trump hasn’t exactly established a reputation for tolerance. Yet the real estate mogul and reality TV host might nevertheless be the most LGBT-friendly Republican running for president.

Asked whether private companies should be able to fire employees simply because they’re gay, Trump told “Meet The Press” host Chuck Todd on Sunday that he didn’t think sexual orientation “should be a reason” for letting workers go.

The question is a significant one for any White House hopeful – currently, 31 states lack employment protections for LGBT Americans, by the Human Rights Campaign’s count, and there are no federal barriers to discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Trump’s response, however, marked a significant departure from the rest of the crowded GOP presidential pack, many of whom have pledged to expand protections for those wishing to turn away LGBT people on religious grounds. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Cruz, Carson Held Secret Meeting in a Closet About ‘Dirty Tricks’ — It Didn’t Go Well

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Republican presidential candidates Ben Carson and Ted Cruz held a meeting Thursday night in a storage closet — literally.

The meeting, which was called by Cruz and held prior to Thursday’s Conservative Review convention, was an attempt to bandage his relationship with rival Carson ahead of the South Carolina primary on Saturday. The two conversed for about 30 minutes, as Carson’s Secret Service detail stood guard by the door, according to The Daily Beast . . .

The secret meeting was supposed to remain a secret, until the Cruz campaign leaked the fact that the talk had taken place, according to the Carson campaign.

“We weren’t going to comment to the press on it, but it seems pretty clear that the other party involved had a different agenda,” Carson spokesman Jason Osbourne said. “How else could we perceive that to be?”

Cruz apologized to the Carson campaign earlier this month for sending out an email telling supporters that Carson had dropped out of the race, citing a “breaking news story” that CNN sent out. In reality, Carson was just returning home for a few days in order to do laundry. In the weeks since the Iowa caucuses, the 2016 Committee, a PAC associated with the Carson camp, has capitalized on the confusion between the two candidates. (Read more from “Cruz, Carson Held Secret Meeting in a Closet About ‘Dirty Tricks’ — It Didn’t Go Well” HERE)

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Bernie Sander’s Increasing Electability Is Unnerving

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By Lisa Lerer and Emily Swanson. The more Democrats learn about Bernie Sanders, the more they appear to like him.

A greater percentage of Democratic registered voters view the Vermont senator as likable, honest, competent and compassionate than they did just two months ago, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. Seventy-two percent now believe he could win the general election, a 21 percentage point increase from the last time the survey was conducted in December.

The findings underscore the challenge facing Hillary Clinton as she enters the Democratic contest’s pivotal spring stretch, when primaries across the country mean that many of the party’s voters will finally get their say on her candidacy.

Clinton’s campaign has argued that as voters learned more about his record, Sanders will begin to lose support. Instead, it seems that as Sanders has gotten more scrutiny, support for him has only grown. While Clinton continues to be the Democratic candidate who’s most well-liked within her own party, Sanders is gaining on her.

Woodrow Benford, 58, who lives outside Minneapolis, says he didn’t know much about Sanders before he announced his presidential bid, but now Benford plans to caucus for him on March 1. (Read more from “Bernie Sander’s Increasing Electability Is Unnerving” HERE)

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Luis Gutierrez: Bernie Sanders Has ‘Troubling’ Immigration Record

By Caroline May. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders has been an unreliable ally and even, at times, enemy of the Latino and immigrant communities, according to Rep. Luis Gutierrez.

“I have observed Sanders first in the House of Representatives and later in the Senate and I have to say, he was absent from most of the crucial immigration debates,” Gutierrez wrote in an opinion column published Thursday at Univision. “And when he did show up, his record was troubling.”

Gutierrez — a vocal amnesty advocate who has endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination — pointed to the immigration battles of 2005 and 2006, saying Sanders, then a congressman, was “mostly silent” about legislation to toughen immigration enforcement.

“And worse, at a few critical moments in 2006, he broke with Democrats and progressives and stood with the hardline anti-immigrant wing of the Republican Party,” he wrote. (Read more from “Luis Gutierrez: Bernie Sanders Has ‘Troubling’ Immigration Record” HERE)

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Visitors Line up to Pay Tribute to Justice Scalia

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By Daniel Jativa. Thomas Randall braved bitter cold temperatures and a long line Friday to make his way into the gilded lobby of the U.S. Supreme Court and pay his respects to a fellow lawyer with whom he agreed on very little.

Randall was one of hundreds of Americans who stood in a block-long line, waiting to climb the steps and pass between towering marble columns into the building where Justice Antonin Scalia lay in repose. The flag-draped casket containing the body of the 79-year-old justice rested atop the Lincoln Catafalque in the Great Hall, just outside the venerable courtroom where Scalia forged his sometimes controversial reputation as one of the most influential conservatives in the history of the high court.

“I’m a staunch liberal and I disagreed with Scalia on virtually everything, but it does not detract from his impact on the court,” Randall told FoxNews.com. “It is a shame people are trying to politicize his death on the day of his ceremony. Civil disagreement should never equate to hatred.”

By 10 a.m., the line to file past Scalia’s body wrapped around the block of First Street and East Capitol Street. As Randall spoke, and noted that Scalia himself had never allowed his conservative beliefs to affect personal friendships with the court’s liberal justices, others in line nodded in agreement. The sentiment provided a respite from a polarizing presidential campaign, the political gridlock just across the street in the United States Capitol and the debate over filling Scalia’s seat that flared as soon as word got out on Saturday that he had been found dead in his bed at a Texas ranch where he was vacationing. (Read more from “Visitors Line up to Pay Tribute to Justice Scalia” HERE)

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Eight Is Enough (for Now)

By Jeffrey H. Anderson. To hear some on the left tell it, the Supreme Court would be hamstrung if it had to function for a year or more without a ninth justice. What to do in the event of a 4-4 tie? This would not have been viewed as a problem, however, by America’s Founders, who created a Court with an even number of justices—six. In fact, Marbury v. Madison, arguably the most important case in the Court’s 226-year history, was decided by a six-justice Court.

The Constitution, of course, leaves it up to Congress to decide how many justices will serve on the Supreme Court. In 1789, Congress passed, and President Washington signed, the Judiciary Act. That law determined that the number of Supreme Court justices should be six. The Congress of that day was full of men who had been at Independence Hall two years earlier and had participated in the writing of the Constitution, so they presumably knew what they were doing.

With a six-justice Court, a 3-3 opinion simply meant the Court wouldn’t overturn a lower federal court ruling but instead would let it stand (or wouldn’t alter the status quo in a case taken up by the Court as a matter of original jurisdiction). One effect of a six-person Court was that it took two-thirds of the Court (4 votes to 2) to declare unconstitutional a law duly passed by Congress or a state legislature. With a nine-person Court, 5-4 rulings are commonplace: In modern times, the trajectory of the nation has changed repeatedly on the personal whims of an Anthony Kennedy or a Sandra Day O’Connor. An even-numbered Court seems to be more conducive to judicial restraint. (Read more from “Eight Is Enough (for Now)” HERE)

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Pope Francis Questions Trump’s Christianity; ‘The Donald’ Fires Back

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By BBC. The Pope has questioned US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Christianity over his call to build a border wall with Mexico.

Pope Francis said “a person who thinks only about building walls… and not of building bridges, is not Christian”.

The New York businessman supports deporting nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants . . .

Pope Francis made the comments at the end of a six-day trip to Mexico.

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel,” he said. (Read more from “Pope Francis Questions Trump’s Christianity, Causing ‘The Donald’ to Fire Back” HERE)

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Donald Trump Fires Back at Sharp Rebuke by Pope Francis

By Patrick Healy. In his most audacious attack yet on a revered public figure, Donald J. Trump veered into risky political territory on Thursday as he denounced Pope Francis, seeking to galvanize Republicans who worry about border security and appeal to evangelical voters who regard Francis as too liberal.

After the pontiff’s remarkable contention that Mr. Trump “is not Christian” in proposing deportations and a wall with Mexico, the candidate said Francis’ criticisms were “disgraceful” and “unbelievable,” and he contended that the Mexican government had hoodwinked the pope into criticizing him.

Politicians rarely rebuke the Vatican so forcefully for fear of alienating Catholic voters, but Mr. Trump has been increasingly aggressive ahead of Saturday’s primary in South Carolina, where polls show a tightening race and the popular Republican governor, Nikki R. Haley, just endorsed Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

Mr. Trump’s attack on Francis reflected a political calculation that criticizing the pope would not hurt him with conservatives and might even improve his standing in South Carolina and in the Southern-dominated Super Tuesday contests on March 1. Some evangelical denominations in the South and elsewhere take a dim view of the Catholic Church, and many other social conservatives have been critical of Francis over his relatively measured statements about gays, birth control and divorce. (Read more from “Donald Trump Fires Back at Sharp Rebuke by Pope Francis” HERE)

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Hillary Just Got Some of the Worst News so Far That Could Mean Serious Trouble for Campaign

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By Jack Davis. For the first time in the campaign, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is beating Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton, according to a Fox News poll released Thursday.

The poll shows Sanders, who a month ago was trailing Clinton 49 percent to 37 percent, leading her 47 percent to 44 percent.

“One thing that is clear from our poll — and others — is that Clinton has been losing support and Sanders has been gaining,” says Democratic pollster Chris Anderson. “And this process appears to have accelerated since the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.”

“Historically, lesser-known candidates beating establishment candidates in early contests have seen the biggest boost in their national support,” said Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducted the Fox News poll along with Anderson.

Among women, Clinton’s lead over Sanders has all but evaporated. Over the last two Fox News polls, Clinton’s lead among women went from 28 points to only three. (Read more from “Hillary Just Got Some of the Worst News so Far That Could Mean Serious Trouble for Campaign” HERE)

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Recording Suggests Hillary Clinton Backers Testing Attack Lines Ahead of Nevada Caucus

By Maryalice Parks. Days before Democratic voters will caucus in Nevada, the race in the state between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton is tighter than ever. A new CNN poll out Wednesday showed the two candidates in a virtual dead heat in the state and staff from the Sanders campaign confirmed to ABC News that they have conducted their own polling in the state and are optimistic about what they see.

As the pressure builds ahead of the next contest in the primary fight, ABC News recently obtained an audio recording of what sounds like intensive message polling conducted on Clinton’s behalf to a caller in the northern part of the state.

In the recording, provided to ABC News by the Sanders campaign, a woman’s voice asks a man on the other end for, among other things, his impression of both talking points that are favorable to Clinton as well as a series of attack lines against the Vermont senator.

The Sanders campaign said the recording and that type of polling are evidence that the Clinton campaign is nervous about a state they once thought they had locked up. (Read more from “Recording Suggests Hillary Clinton Backers Testing Attack Lines Ahead of Nevada Caucus” HERE)

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Chicago Court Will Reportedly Hear Case on Cruz Presidential Eligibility

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Birtherism is now officially a legal issue, as the eligibility of Sen. Ted Cruz to run for president will have a hearing Friday in Chicago, according to multiple news outlets.

According to CNN and ABC, a Cook County Circuit Court judge will hear a lawsuit brought by an Illinois voter who says Mr. Cruz is not a natural-born citizen, as the Constitution requires, because he was born in Canada.

Mr. Cruz has never denied being born in Canada, but maintains that the issue is ridiculous because under longstanding U.S. statutory law, he was automatically a U.S. citizen at birth because his mother was a U.S. citizen . . .

[Lawrence] Joyce told WBBM radio that he supports Ben Carson and has not been in consultation with the campaign of Donald Trump, who has repeatedly said Mr. Cruz might not be eligible to take office.

Like Mr. Trump though, Mr. Joyce said his concern is that the eligibility issue lie unresolved during Republican primaries, thus letting the Democrats take advantage of it after a potential Cruz nomination, when it’d be too late. (Read more from “Chicago Court Will Reportedly Hear Case on Cruz Presidential Eligibility” HERE)

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