Ruling Class Continues to Ignore America: 70% of US Oppose Arming Syrian Rebels (+video)

Photo Credit: Breitbart

Photo Credit: Breitbart

By John Nolte. A Pew poll released Monday shows that our politically divided country is fairly unified on one big issue. A huge majority of 70% oppose President Obama’s announced plan to arm the rebels in Syria currently waging a war to unseat that country’s sitting president, Bashar Assad. Only 20% favor the plan.

When broken down by party, 74% of Independents, 71% of Republicans, and 66% of Democrats are in opposition to the president. The main concern of those polled is the fear that the new boss will be an awful lot like the old boss.

Lessons learned from Egypt, perhaps?

A Gallup poll also released Monday backs up Pew, but the numbers aren’t quite as bad for the president. 54% disapprove of Obama’s decision, with only 37% approving.

Obama fares a little better among those following the situation in Syria closely, but he is still upside down seven points, with only 44% approving and a majority of 51% disapproving. Read more from this story HERE.

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Syrian-Rebel Teens Sing at Al Qaeda Camp: ‘We Destroyed America With a Civilian Airplane’

By Terence P. Jeffrey. An al Qaeda video posted online in late May and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) shows masked Muslim teenage boys undergoing military training and indoctrination at an al Qaeda camp inside Syria.

The video shows the teenagers shooting handguns at a large photo of Syrian leader Bashar al-Asad. It also shows them stating that their leader is Abu Bakr al Baghdadi (the head of al Qaeda in Iraq), and then singing joyfully of their desire to overthrow both Asad and his sister Bushra, of the valor of al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri and of al Qaeda’s success in blowing up the World Trade Center towers.

“We destroyed America with a civilian airplane,” the young Syrian rebels sing. “The World Trade Center was turned into rubble. The World Trade Center was turned into rubble. Read more from this story HERE.

[Editor’s note: our apologies, but the embedded viewer in this article is not compatible with all browsers]

And here is another video from a Syrian rebel group:

Edward Snowden Calls U.S. Intelligence ‘Aggressively Criminal’ (+video)

Photo Credit: The Guardian

Photo Credit: The Guardian

By Shashank Bengali. Edward Snowden, the former U.S. government contractor who leaked secret details of official surveillance programs, pledged Monday to release more information about U.S. intelligence-gathering methods that he described as “nakedly, aggressively criminal.”

“All I can say right now is the U.S. government is not going to be able to cover this up by jailing or murdering me,” Snowden wrote in an online chat hosted by Britain’s Guardian newspaper. “Truth is coming, and it cannot be stopped.”

Writing from an undisclosed location believed to be in Hong Kong, the former CIA and National Security Agency systems administrator vigorously defended his disclosures about the breadth of U.S. surveillance, including programs that sweep up data about Americans’ telephone calls, emails and Internet use.

…Snowden alleged that intelligence agencies keep the information on government computers “for a very long time” and are available for analysts to view as long as they produce a “rubber stamp” warrant.

“The reality is that due to the FISA Amendments Act and its section 702 authorities, Americans’ communications are collected and viewed on a daily basis on the certification of an analyst rather than a warrant,” Snowden said. “They excuse this as ‘incidental’ collection, but at the end of the day, someone at NSA still has the content of your communications.”

Read more from this story HERE.

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Edward Snowden: US government has destroyed any chance of a fair trial

By Ewen MacAskill. In a live Q&A with Guardian readers from a secret location in Hong Kong, Snowden hinted at more disclosures to come and that their publication could not be prevented by his arrest or – more chillingly – his death.

Answering a ­question about whether he had more secret material, the 29-year-old former National Security Agency contractor wrote: “All I can say right now is the US government is not going to be able to cover this up by jailing or ­murdering me. Truth is coming, and it cannot be stopped”…

With opinion in the US divided between those who see him as a traitor and those who view him as a hero, Snowden said he fled the country because he did not believe he had a chance of a fair trial.

“The US government, just as they did with other whistleblowers, immediately and predictably destroyed any possibility of a fair trial at home, openly declaring me guilty of treason and that the disclosure of secret, criminal, and even unconstitutional acts is an unforgivable crime. That’s not justice, and it would be foolish to volunteer yourself to it if you can do more good outside of prison than in it,” he said.

Snowden, whose leaked documents opened a debate about the balance between intrusive government surveillance versus security, does not regard himself as having committed a crime but instead as the person exposing alleged criminality on the part of the Obama administration. Read more from this story HERE.

Furious Republican Rips into Marco Rubio (+video)

marco-rubioRep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., is ripping Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and other Republicans for facilitating the Democratic approach to immigration reform and deceiving the American people about what’s in the legislation.

Rubio stated repeatedly in recent weeks that effective border security was essential to getting his vote for the final version, despite his role in drafting the original bill. Earlier this week, however, Rubio told a Univision audience, in Spanish, that the effort to legalize the millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S. was the top priority.

“Let’s be clear,” Rubio said. “Nobody is talking about preventing the legalization. The legalization is going to happen. That means the following will happen: First comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border. And then comes the process of permanent residence.”

Rohrabacher is not impressed.

“Rubio is so mixed up and so confused. I think he has given up his rightful place to advise any of us in Washington what to do, and he’s given up any right to be trusted by the American people,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

‘Cheers’ Star: We Didn’t Need Surveillance When We Were Kids – ‘We Had God’ (+video)

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Actor John Ratzenberger said Friday that when he was a child, there was no need for surveillance, “because we knew God was watching us.”

“When we were kids, we didn’t need security cameras on the telephone poles to watch us, because we knew God was watching us. We don’t need cameras. We had God,” Ratzenberger, who played Cliff Clavin on “Cheers,” said at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference in Washington, D.C.

Ratzenberger also voiced the character Hamm the Piggy Bank on “Toy Story” as well as other supporting roles in Pixar films.

[Editor’s note: our apologies, but the embedded viewer in this article is not compatible with all browsers]

Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s Actor John Ratzenberger’s introduction of Allen West last week:

Cheney: Snowden a Traitor; Palin: Snowden not the Problem (+videos)

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

‘Snowden is not the problem’ Palin says

By Breanna Deutsch and Sarah Harvard. Sarah Palin energized a group of social conservatives at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference Saturday, blasting the Obama Administration’s apparent lawlessness, calling the current state of America “Orwellian,” and urging the United States to stay out of Syria’s chaotic and brutal civil war.

In comments to the Daily Caller, the 2008 candidate for vice president also declined to join many of her fellow Republicans in condemning National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, saying the real problem was the government’s violation of Americans’ rights…

Palin appeared confident and comfortable on stage while inveighing against the NSA tracking American citizens’ phone calls, noting that domestic spying had not prevented the Boston Marathon bombings.

“Our government spied on every one of your phone calls, but they couldn’t find two pot-smoking deadbeat Bostonians with a hotline to terrorist central in Chechnya,” said the Alaska Republican, “And it’s built an apparatus to sneak into all of the good guy’s communications, but whoopsie daisy, it missed the Fort Hood mass murder of our troops despite this Islamic terrorist declaring his ideology in numerous army counseling sessions and even on his own business cards.” Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Cheney calls Edward Snowden ‘traitor,’ says Rand Paul wrong about surveillance

By Katie McHugh. Former Vice President Dick Cheney declared National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden ”a traitor” and questioned whether Snowden acted alone or coordinated with the Chinese government as a spy on ‘Fox News Sunday’ this weekend. The prominent hawk also pushed back against Sen. Rand Paul’s concerns about Americans’ constitutional rights.

“I’m deeply suspicious obviously because he went to China,” Cheney told host Chris Wallace. ”That’s not a place where you ordinarily want to go if you’re interested in freedom and liberty and so forth. It raises questions whether or not he had that kind of connection before he did this.”

Cheney feared Snowden would release additional documents that could inflict harm on the U.S. while aiding China. Read more from this story HERE.

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Liberal Media (a/k/a “Establishment Media”) Continues to Hammer Snowden

In the below video, liberal Bob Schieffer on CBS’s Face the Nation strongly criticizes Snowden. Next, listen to reporter Glenn Greenwald – who broke the Snowden story – as he highlights the press’s hypocrisy on this issue.

Fight Erupts Over Massive “Jihad” Graffiti Displayed on Florida’s I95 (+video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

Drivers traveling along Interstate 95 in Delray Beach passed by a shocking message Saturday.

The word “Jihad” was spray painted across a wall south of the Atlantic Avenue exit along the northbound lanes of I-95.

The Muslim word means “holy war.”

Heather Smith traveled past it Saturday, and was very upset by the message. She said, ” If it’s a joke, it’s a sick joke.”

Florida Highway Patrol troopers came out Saturday evening to investigate the graffiti. They found one can of spray paint nearby that may be linked to the crime. They say they talked to nearby residents who told them they didn’t see the person or people behind the graffiti.

Read more from this story HERE.

Mark Levin Goes Off on Pro-Amnesty RINO’s Including Jeb Bush, Karl Rove, Others (+video)

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

By Jeff Poor. On his Friday radio show, conservative talker Mark Levin challenged support from for this current of immigration reform coming from prominent Republicans, particularly Jeb Bush and Karl Rove.

Levin, author of “Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America,” began his attack by arguing some members of the Republican Party make policy gestures without mentioning the U.S. Constitution.

“It amazes me how few Republicans in elected office actually talk about the Constitution,” Levin said. “They have no more respect for it, no more concern about its boundaries and limits than the left. That’s why I say they’re neo-statist.” Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Marco Rubio: We need to legalize immigrants so they can pay for border security

By Byron York. Why is it necessary to legalize the roughly 11 million currently-illegal immigrants in the U.S. before newly enhanced border security and internal enforcement measures are in place? Sen. Marco Rubio, the leading Republican on the Senate’s Gang of Eight, says part of the reason is that the federal government can’t afford to secure the border on its own and needs financial help from the immigrants themselves, in the form of fines paid when they are legalized.

Rubio made the statement during a radio interview after he voted against an amendment from Republican Sen. Charles Grassley that would have put off legalization until after the border is secure — a position supported by majorities of voters across the political spectrum. Host Andrea Tantaros asked Rubio why he opposed something that was important “to so many in the Republican party?”

Rubio’s first reason was that the U.S. has no other choice than to legalize the 11 million. Enhancing security first would take an estimated four years, and Rubio declared, “We cannot wait another four years with 11 million people living in this country illegally without knowing who they are or why they’re here.” Read more from this story HERE.

14-Year-Old at the Center of “NRA T-Shirt Controversy” Now Facing Possibility of 1 Year in Jail

Suspended and arrested after refusing to change his NRA shirt. Today, 14-year-old Jared Marcum appeared before a judge and was officially charged with obstructing an officer.

A $500 fine and up to a year in jail, that’s the penalty that Jared could face, now that a judge has allowed the prosecution to move forward with it’s obstructing an officer charge against him.

“Me, I’m more of a fighter and so is Jared and eventually we’re going to get through this,” Jared’s father Allen Lardieri said. “I don’t think it should have ever gotten this far.”

The Logan County Police Department initially claimed that the at-the-time 8th grade Logan Middle School student was arrested for disturbing the education process, obstructing an officer and Lardieri says that officers even went as far as threatening to charge Jared with making terroristic threats.

[T]he arresting officer from the Logan City Police Department, James Adkins, claims that when Jared refused to stop talking, that hindered his ability to do his job, hence, the obstruction charge.

Read more from this story HERE.

Read an earlier story about what happened at the school HERE.

Police Arrest Mother Who Simply Asks to See Warrant for Minor Son’s Arrest (+video)

Photo Credit: thivierr

Slaton police came to this woman’s house, who wishes to remain anonymous, to arrest her son. But by asking one simple question, she found herself behind bars instead.

“I told him, ‘I will release my son to you upon viewing those orders.’ Those were exactly my words,” The complainant said. “He said, ‘This is how you want to play?’ He took two steps back, turned around to the officer and said, ‘Take her.’ They turned me around, handcuffed me, and took me in.”

The complainant said she was aware police would be coming to apprehend her 11-year-old son based on a criminal complaint, and that she just wanted to see the warrant. As it turns out, that warrant didn’t exist. She spent the night in jail while her son was left at home.

“He told me it was their duty to come pick up my son,” She said. “Yet, I had someone stay the night at my house. They never came back that evening, they never came to pick up my son, or do what they told me they were there to do in the beginning.”

“This occurred on May 29 when they went out to apprehend this young man,” Dwight McDonald, the family’s attorney, said. “The directive to apprehend was not signed until May 30, which is another indication that they didn’t have the authority to go out and arrest him or apprehend this young man.”

Read more from this story HERE.

CIA to Arm, Train Syrian Rebels; Hagel Says US Jets, Missiles Brought to Jordan Will Stay (+video)

photo credit: secretary of defense

As the United States prepares to supply Syrian rebels with small arms through a CIA-run program, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said Saturday that U.S. troops temporarily in neighboring Jordan will leave behind fighter jets and a cache of Patriot missiles.

So far the White House has committed only to supplying rebel forces with small arms and ammunition, following confirmation that the regime of Syria President Bashar al-Assad’s has been using chemical weapons in the 2-year-long civil war in which at least 90,000 people have been killed.

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and other Capitol Hill military hawks have called for much heavier arms including the Patriot defense missiles and for the United States to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria.

Read more from this story HERE.