Clinton Files: Advisers Pushed to ‘Humanize’ Hillary, Soften ‘Stern’ Image

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Photo Credit: APEven in the early days of the Clinton White House, consultants and political advisers were scrambling to soften Hillary Clinton’s hard-edged image, looking for ways to “humanize her” for the press and public.

In the latter years, as the media turned, the advice was far more blunt. “Be real,” media consultant Mandy Grunwald told her in a 1999 memo. Grunwald told the first lady the public tends to see her only in “very stern situations,” and warned her not to let the press see her “uncomfortable or testy.”

The advice was contained in roughly 4,000 pages of previously confidential documents from the Clinton administration years, released Friday by the National Archives. The document dump is just the first batch of Clinton papers that will trickle into the public domain in the coming weeks.

The materials will be closely combed by political operatives on both sides of the aisle, as Hillary Clinton weighs a presidential bid in 2016. What the documents reveal about former President Bill Clinton may be less important, politically, than what they reveal about his wife.

The 1999 memo was a particularly frank example of advisers looking to style Clinton for the public. At the time, Grunwald was with the Grunwald Communications firm she founded and was trying to smooth relations between retiring New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Clinton — who would later win Moynihan’s seat. The memo referred to an upcoming “Moynihan event.” Grunwald urged Clinton to stay “conversational” and not raise her voice.

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Biden to Democrats: Don’t Apologize in 2014

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Photo Credit: AP/Susan WalshVice President Joe Biden on Thursday told Democrats to stop apologizing for their policies and go on offense as party leaders try to overcome pessimism about prospects for the November election.

At a Democratic National Committee gathering, Biden said he and President Barack Obama have an obligation to raise money and campaign for the party’s candidates. He said he has signed up to participate in more than 120 races and that Obama has given him permission to participate in every campaign where he can be helpful.

“I am so tired about hearing about the demise of the Democratic Party. Give me a break,” Biden said. “My central message to you is look: I think we should not apologize for a single thing.”

In his pep talk to state chairmen, the vice president tried to portray the party as starting on solid ground as campaigning gears up.

“There is no Republican Party,” Biden said, accusing the GOP of masquerading as conservative while actually espousing anti-government views that he said Americans reject.

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Federal Appeals Court: Schools Can Ban Students from Wearing American Flag T-Shirts in order to prevent violence

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Photo Credit: calaggieHow would wearing an American flag t-shirt possibly incite violence in an American high school? From the opinion:

The court’s ruling: School administrators can force you to remove your American-flag tee if the alternative is a classmate punching you in the face. That’s because, per the Supreme Court, students don’t have the same free speech rights at school that adults do on other public grounds. At school, the name of the game is order and instruction; you’re entitled to free expression to the extent you don’t interfere with those goals, but once you do, the school’s entitled to limit your expression accordingly.

In other words, a bully can get the principal’s office to silence you by promising to beat your ass if they don’t.

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Intel Committee Chairman Poised to Recall Ex-CIA Chief Morell Over Benghazi Testimony, Weighing Same for Petraeus

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Photo Credit: Fox News Republican allegations that former CIA Acting Director Mike Morell misled Congress over the White House’s role in crafting the flawed Benghazi “talking points” took a dramatic turn Thursday, with the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee telling Fox News it’s likely Morell will be recalled to testify. Investigators also are reviewing the testimony of former CIA Director David Petraeus, Morell’s old boss, to assess whether he should be recalled as well.

“We are having some transcript reviews. We’ve been continually doing that through the committee,” Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., told Fox News. “We’re looking at Director Petraeus’ transcripts and reviews — looking at what information we have now available. Sometimes that second interview can be equally important and it is likely we will have Director Morell up to testify before the committee.”

The debate continues to focus on why the talking points did not reflect the best available intelligence, and what influence the administration brought to bear on the flawed public narrative of the attack in the days immediately following Sept. 11, 2012 – that narrative initially claimed the attacks sprung out of protests over an anti-Islam film.

Among the allegations, Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee said in a January 2014 Benghazi report that Morell insisted the talking points were sent to the White House for informational purposes, and not for their input — but e-mails, later released by the administration, showed otherwise.

In response to Rogers’ comments, Morell said in an email to Fox News, “I sent him a letter this afternoon saying that I would very much welcome an invitation to testify in open session before the Committee on Benghazi.”

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11-Year-Old Girl Shoots and Kills Cougar that Was Stalking her Brother, 13, Outside their House

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Photo Credit: Bill WhiteWhen Tom White spotted a cougar approaching his teenage son outside their home in rural Washington state last week, there was only one thing to do – hand a gun to his 11-year-old daughter.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Shelby White killed the female cougar, and wildlife officials suggested that the animal may have been sick.

The mountain cat was 4 years old and weighed about 50lbs, which is about half of what an animal that age should weigh.

‘This cougar was very, very skinny,’ State Fish and Wildlife Officer Cal Treser said.

The fearless 11-year-old took action when she saw the cougar following her 13-year-old brother as he was walking towards their home in the town of Twisp, population 940.

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Harry Reid Accuses Republicans of Telling ‘Outright Lies’ About Obamacare

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Photo Credit: APBy Susan Jones.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says despite all the “good news” about Obamacare, “there’s plenty of horror stories being told, all of them untrue — but they’re being told all over America.”

In a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, Reid complained that Republicans, with help from wealthy donors — he named the Koch brothers — are telling “tall tales” and “outright lies” about Obamacare in stump speeches and political advertisements.

“Republicans may need tall tales and outright lies to convince people that Obamacare’s bad for them — but Democrats — we don’t have to make things up,” Reid said.”

To illustrate his point, Reid read a letter from Jane Thomas, one of his Nevada constituents, who was able to quit her job as a school teacher “thanks to Obamacare.”

“This story is true,” Reid said. “For years, Jane was locked into a job as a school teacher because she, (her husband) and her two teenage children needed guaranteed health insurance. And it cost a lot. But Jane was able to quit her teaching job, spend more time with her children, and help her husband with the family’s small business. Jane says the Affordable Care Act has literally changed her life.”

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‘They’re All Lying?’ GOP Replies to Reid Claim ‘All’ Obamacare Horror Stories Untrue

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said today that despite all the good news on Obamacare, “There’s plenty of horror stories being told. All of them are untrue, but they’re being told all over America.”

It’s a pretty bold claim that all the stories about cancelled policies are false – but Reid goes a step farther, and blames the Koch brothers in a halting speech from the Senate floor.

“The leukemia patient whose insurance policy was canceled [who] would die without her medication, Mr. President, that’s an ad being paid for by two billionaire brothers. It’s absolutely false.”

“Or the woman whose insurance policy went up $700 a month,” Reid continued. “Ads paid for around America by the multibillionaire Koch brothers, and the ad is false.”

“We heard about the evils of Obamacare, about the lives it’s ruining in Republicans’ stump speeches and in ads paid for by oil magnates, the Koch brothers. But in those tales, turned out to be just that: tales, stories made up from whole cloth, lies distorted by the Republicans to grab headlines or make political advertisements.

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Kansas Senators SLAM Harry Reid

By Chuck Ross.

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstBoth Kansas senators took to the Senate floor Thursday to hit back against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for saying that the Kansas-based Koch brothers are “un-American.”

“Yesterday two prominent citizens were called unpatriotic merely because they have engaged, legally I must say, in their First Amendment right to participate in the political process,” said Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.

“I was saddened, I was dismayed, I was discouraged to see the floor of the Senate used as a venue for such campaign-related attacks”, said Roberts, who called Democrats’ focus on the Kochs’ political spending “all part of a coordinated plan” and an “abuse of power.”

In two Senate floor speeches on Wednesday, Reid lashed out at Charles and David Koch, the primary owners of Koch Industries, which is based in Wichita, Kansas.

“Despite all that good news [of Obamacare], there’s plenty of horror stories being told. All are untrue, but they’re being told all over America,” said Reid in his first floor speech on Wednesday.

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University Removes ‘God’ from Plaque

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Photo Credit: Boston Public LibraryPurdue University, which once defended the right of a private speaker to blaspheme Jesus, has banned an alumni donor from using the word “God” on a plaque because it might offend someone.

Dr. Michael McCracken and his wife made a $12,500 pledge to the university’s school of mechanical engineering. In return, Purdue, a large public university in Indiana, offered the McCrackens the opportunity to name a small conference room in a lab building. They were also invited to supply language for a plaque that would be installed in the room.

McCracken chose to name the room after his father, Dr. William McCracken, who graduated from Purdue with a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, and his mother Glenda, who died recently.

The plaque was inscribed with the following message:

“To those who seek to better the world through the understanding of God’s physical laws and innovation of practical solutions. In honor of Dr. William ‘Ed’ and Glenda McCracken.”

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Restaurant Chain Adds Obamacare Surcharge to Customers’ Bills

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Larry DowningA chain of Florida restaurants are making customers pick up the tab for the company’s mandatory participation in the Affordable Care Act — with a surcharge to every bill to help cover the cost of providing healthcare to their employees.

Eight Gator’s Dockside restaurants have started putting an “ACA Surchar” on every customer’s bill. The new charge adds one percent to the total check, which would mean 15 cents for an average $15 lunch according to a CNN report.

“The costs associated with ACA compliance could ultimately close our doors,” a sign outside one restaurant reads. “Instead of raising prices on our products to generate the additional revenue needed to cover the costs of ACA compliance, certain Gator’s Dockside locations have implemented a 1 percent surcharge on all food and beverage purchases only.”

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D.C. Health Plans to Include Gender-Reassignment Surgeries

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Photo Credit: ASTRID RIECKEND.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray on Thursday announced that the city will recognize gender dysphoria as a medical condition, forcing insurance companies to cover treatments such as gender-reassignment surgery for transgender people.

The coverage extends to all D.C. residents with group or individual health insurance — including the roughly one-third of city residents receiving Medicaid benefits — whose doctors diagnose the condition and for whom treatment is deemed medically necessary.

“This action places the District at the forefront of advancing the rights of transgender individuals,” Mr. Gray said at his ceremonial office at City Hall. The District joins California, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon and Vermont in requiring the coverage, which the federal government will not be made to offer to its employees.

Transgender activists applauded the move, saying it guarantees coverage for treatments such as gender reassignment surgery that can cost tens of thousands of dollars and which have been denied by insurance companies that deemed the procedures cosmetic.

“This isn’t about who’s paying for things. This is about whether or not it’s medical care and who gets to decide that,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. “Nobody in America wants their health care decisions made by the insurance companies.”

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Commander: U.S. Military Not Ready for Cyber Warfare

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Photo Credit: Gen. Keith Alexander / APThe U.S. military is ill-prepared for waging cyber warfare and needs to bolster defenses against the growing threat of cyber attacks against both military systems and private infrastructure, the commander of U.S. Cyber Command told Congress on Thursday.

“Those attacks are coming and I think those are near term and we’re not ready for them,” said Army Gen. Keith Alexander, head of Cyber Command and also outgoing director of the National Security Agency.

Alexander, in prepared testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, sounded the alarm on the need for better cyber attack and defense capabilities. He said the command’s priorities include setting up a secure “defensible” telecommunications architecture, training cyber warfare personnel, increasing intelligence data on global cyber threats, and clarifying lines of authority for conducting cyber attacks and defending government and private networks.

Cyber Command, currently staffed by 1,100 people, is making progress in all areas, said Alexander, who retires next month. However, he warned that cyber threats are increasing, shifting from temporarily disruptive attacks, to extremely damaging cyber strikes that can destroy data and machines, and potentially threaten the U.S. economy and endanger American lives.

“Despite our progress at U.S. [Cyber Command], I worry that we might not be ready in time,” he said. “Threats to our nation in cyberspace are growing.”

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