Posts

Outrage: Obama Admin. Says Texans Can’t Arrest UN Observers Even if They Violate Texas Law

In a development that should outrage every red-blooded, patriotic American, the Obama Administration announced that international observers in the United States cannot be arrested by state law enforcement even if the United Nations representatives violate state law.

As we publicized earlier this week, “United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups.” [Click on this “Limited Election Observation Mission to the United States of America” list to see where the international observers will be deploying in your state.]

Unlike Alaska’s current passivity, Texas confronted this offensive intrusion by international observers with a warning from its Attorney General’s office: “[G]roups and individuals from outside the United States do not have jurisdiction to interfere with Texas elections.” The Attorney General himself also threatened that,

individuals from outside the United States are not allowed to influence or interfere with the election process in Texas. This State has robust election laws that were carefully crafted to protect the integrity of our election system. All persons—including persons connected with OSCE—are required to comply with these laws.

Elections and election observation are regulated by state law. The Texas Election Code governs anyone who participates in Texas elections—including representatives of the OSCE. The OSCE’s representatives are not authorized by Texas law to enter a polling place. It may be a criminal offense for OSCE’s representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance. Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE’s representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law.

Of course, the internationalist leaders of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations have no appreciation for the concept of state sovereignty. Like most European socialists, they see national governments as supreme, free to dictate any directive to individual states. If they know anything about the US Constitution, they likely consider it hostile to their internationalist aims.

Consistent with this mentality, Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the UN affiliated group sending election observers throughout the United States, stated that the “threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable. The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.”

According to the Washington Examiner, the Obama Administration jumped into the fray on the side of the United Nations over Texas:

International election observers planning to visit Texas polling places have “full immunity” from being arrested in the United States, the State Department said when discussing a letter from the Texas Attorney General.

We as a nation had better wake up, and soon. Internationalism is moving in at hyper-speed under the banners of both political parties. And it is not moving us anywhere close to where our Founders intended the nation to be. Rather, it’s consolidating power at the top, in direct competition with individual freedom.

And remember this: forces of internationalism hate the United States Constitution. Although activist justices and lawless political leaders have done their best to sanitize it of any original intent, the US Constitution still stands as the foremost barrier to the ultimate goal of an international, socialist form of government.

We must rally around the Constitution and demand that our leaders do the same!

Video: Growing Protests Against RFID Tracking in Texas School

Last night, NBC Nightly News broadcast a segment on the Texas school that is requiring students to wear RFID tags. RFID receivers are placed throughout the school so that administrators instantly know where every child is at. This also allows the school to know how many students are in class or absent at any one time.

Privacy advocates worry that the use of these chips is a preliminary step to wider application in society. As we have mentioned previously at Restoring Liberty, a major concern for privacy advocates is the “normalizing” effect of such applications.

A parent that was interviewed by NBC also posits a religious objection: that RFID technology represents, or is a precursor to, Revelation’s Mark of the Beast:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A Texas Delegate’s Report on the “Tampa Tempest in the Convention Hall”

Photo credit: rcbodden

Briefly, there are items that have passed the powerful Rules committee that freedom loving Texans and activists of other states are attempting to roll back. In a nutshell, the most egregious of the Rules changes would give a presumptive presidential candidate veto power over duly elected States’ delegates, without even having to justify why. Grassroots are rightly outraged over this. Another one would consolidate huge amounts of additional Party power in the national Republican National Committee, which is frankly, dominated by smaller and more moderate states. Its membership operates, in essence, like a Senate but without a counterbalancing House.

While Texas delegates are unified against these measures, not all states are on board yet. Especially if you have activist contacts in other states (whether or not actually at the Convention in Tampa), please help spread the word that they should actively support a minority report that would roll back these rogue rule changes.

Below is a verified account from an Indiana delegate that describes the situation in more detail.

On Tues., the Convention Rules Committee will report the revised RNC Rules for adoption. A minority report will be presented to delete an amendment which has the effect of allowing Presidential candidates to select his bound delegates in all of the states he carried by allowing him to “disavow” any of them. They are then not certified as a delegate.

Here is the amendment to be deleted by the minority report with the disavowal language:

Add a new section 15(a) and replace as follows and renumber accordingly:

“(1) Any statewide presidential preference vote that permits a choice among candidates for the Republican nomination for president of the United states in a primary, caucuses, or a state convention must be used to allocate and bind the state’s delegation to the National Convention in either a proportional or winner-take-all manner, except for the delegates and alternate delegates who appear on a ballot in a statewide election and are elected directly by primary voters.”
(2) For any manner of binding or allocating delegates permitted by these Rules, no delegate or alternate delegate who is bound or allocated to a particular presidential candidate may be certified under Rule 19 if the presidential candidate to whom the delegate or alternate delegate is bound or allocated has, in consultation with the State Party, disavowed the delegate or alternate delegate.”
Add anew 15(e)(3) as follows:
“(e)(3) The Republican National Committee may grant a waiver to a state Republican Party from the provisions of 15(a) and (b) where compliance is impossible, and the Republican National Committee determines that granting such waiver is in the best interests of the Republican Party.”

This puts the candidate, not the state party, in control of who is a delegate from your state. By disavowing a delegate he is out, even though already legally elected. As a practical matter, no state party wants its delegates to be disavowed so they will make sure that all the delegates are agreed to by the winning candidate and the candidate will have the hammer to make sure that happens. As a result, the winning candidate controls the selection of delegates, not the state party. This is the biggest power grab in the history of the Republican Party because it shifts the power to select delegates from the state party to the candidate. And it would make the Republican Party a top down, not bottom up party.

Read more from this story HERE.

RNC/Romney’s Effort to Handpick Delegates for Future Conventions Defeated by Texas/Ron Paul Supporters

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

Republican leaders moved Monday to quell an uprising by Texans and Ron Paul supporters that threatened to steal the spotlight from GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and expose rifts in the party right as its nominating convention got under way.

Under a compromise reached late Monday, Romney supporters and GOP leaders agreed to back down from a proposed rule change that effectively would have allowed presidential nominees to choose what delegates represent them at national conventions.

The proposed change was aimed at muting the power of insurgent candidates such as Tea Party favorite Ron Paul but prompted an uproar from Texas Republicans, who select their delegates through successive votes in conventions at precincts, then districts and finally statewide.

Butch Davis, a member of the RNC Rules Committee who fought off the proposal, said the existing Texas system often elevates grassroots activists and party faithful toiling in the trenches, but the proposed change would have instead allowed GOP leaders and presidential candidates to hand-select delegates and reward donors with delegate spots.

“We believe in Texas as a principle that no presidential candidate nor the RNC should be able to tell Texas who can or cannot be a delegate to the national convention,” Davis said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Read a Texas Delegate’s account of the proposed rule change HERE.

Video: Texas judge warns of US civil war involving UN if Obama reelected

A Texas judge in an interview broadcast on a Fox TV newscast predicted a US civil war if Obama is reelected. He contends that Obama will call in UN troops and that that will create further unrest. These comments begin at about :30 of the video. To see the Houston Chronicle story on this, please click HERE.

Lubbock, Texas Judge: Tax increase necessary for inevitable civil war if Obama reelected

A Lubbock County, Texas, judge is asking for a tax increase to hire deputies for the inevitable civil war he believes would follow President Obama’s re-election.

The way he puts it, Judge Tom Head wants to prepare for the “worst”, which to him means “civil unrest, civil disobedience” and possible “civil war”, according to a report from Fox 34 Lubbock.

Judge Tom Head and Commissioner Mark Heinrich told the station this week that a 1.7 cent tax increase for the next fiscal year was necessary to prepare for many contingencies, including Obama’s re-election. He also mentioned to the station that the county needs a pay increase is needed for the district attorney’s office and more funds to pay for more sheriff’s office deputies.

“He’s going to try to hand over the sovereignty of the United States to the (United Nations), and what is going to happen when that happens?,” Head asked the station during a Monday interview. “I’m thinking the worst. Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war maybe. And we’re not just talking a few riots here and demonstrations, we’re talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms and get rid of the guy.”

Head also seems to fear the retaliation of such civil unrest.

Read more from this story HERE. To see the actual video of the interview, please click HERE.

Federal Court of Appeals: Texas can cut off funding for Planned Parenthood

Photo credit: rcbodden

Texas officials are vowing to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood after a federal court sided with the state in a challenge over a new law that bans clinics affiliated with abortion providers from getting money through a health program for low-income women.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans late Tuesday reversed a federal judge’s temporary injunction that was allowing the funding to continue pending an October trial on Planned Parenthood’s challenge to the law.

State officials are seeking to halt money to Planned Parenthood clinics that provide family planning and health services as part of the state’s Women’s Health Program because the Republican-led Texas Legislature passed a law banning funds to organizations linked to abortion providers.

Planned Parenthood provides services like cancer screenings – but not abortions – to about half of the 130,000 low-income Texas women enrolled in the program, which is designed to provide services to women who might not otherwise qualify for Medicaid.

The appeals court’s decision means Texas is now free to impose the ban.

Read more from this story HERE.

West Nile virus outbreak in Texas kills 17, Dallas mayor declares “state of emergency”

Photo credit: dr_relling

West Nile virus kills 17 in Texas, sickens hundreds

By AFP.  The US state of Texas is battling an outbreak of the West Nile virus, with 17 deaths being blamed on the mosquito-borne disease, authorities said Wednesday.

Throughout the state, 381 people have been sickened since the start of the year, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

“Texas is on track to have the most cases of West Nile illness since the disease first emerged in the state in 2002,” it said in a statement.

The county incorporating Dallas, the ninth-largest city in the United States, has been the hardest hit, prompting the mayor to declare a local state of disaster.

“The City of Dallas is experiencing a widespread outbreak of mosquito-borne West Nile virus and has caused and appears likely to continue to cause widespread and severe illness and loss of life,” Mayor Michael Rawlings said in the proclamation of emergency that takes effect Wednesday.  Read more from this story HERE.

Dallas Mayor declares state of emergency, orders aerial spraying for first time in almost 50 years

By Sarah Kutah.  Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings on Wednesday declared the city’s recent West Nile virus outbreak to be a state of emergency and authorized the first aerial spraying of insecticide in the city in more than 45 years.

Dallas and other North Texas cities have agreed to the rare use of aerial spraying from planes to combat the nation’s worst outbreak of West Nile virus so far this year. Dallas last had aerial spraying in 1966, when more than a dozen deaths were blamed on encephalitis.

More than 200 cases of West Nile and 10 deaths linked to the virus have been reported across Dallas County, where officials authorized aerial spraying last week. State health department statistics show 381 cases and 16 deaths related to West Nile statewide.

“The number of cases, the number of deaths are remarkable, and we need to sit up and take notice,” Rawlings said during a city council briefing. “We do have a serious problem right now.”

Aerial spraying for mosquitoes could begin Thursday evening, depending on weather conditions. The state health department, which will pay for the $500,000 aerial spraying with emergency funds, has a contract with national spraying company Clarke. Clarke officials have said two to five planes will be used in Dallas County.  Read more from this story HERE.

Tea party candidate Ted Cruz wins in Texas GOP runoff

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

Tea party favorite Ted Cruz, once considered a long shot to win the Texas Republican Senate nomination, beat Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a bitterly contested and expensive two-man runoff election Tuesday.

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Mr. Cruz got 57 percent of the vote to Mr. Dewhurst’s 43 percent, according to official election returns.

Mr. Cruz will face former Texas state lawmaker Paul Sadler, who the AP declared the winner over Grady Yarbrough in Tuesday’s Democratic primary runoff. But Mr. Sadler will have a huge cash disadvantage and be a significant underdog come November in the Republican-dominated state.

A year ago Mr. Dewhurst, 66, was considered the heir apparent to the seat, which was created by the retirement of four-term incumbent GOPSen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. He was endorsed by the largely popular Gov. Rick Perry. And a personal fortune estimated to be worth $200 million meant that any serious opponent was going to have to raise significant cash to stay competitive.

The lieutenant governor had touted his experience in the Air Force, the CIA and in business, as well as a statewide political career that began in 1999 as the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ft. Hood Massacre Report blames “Political Correctness” for slaughter; & GOP wants Bachmann to shut up?!

In emails to a known terrorist, the man charged with killing 13 people in a 2009 attack at Fort Hood, Texas, expressed his support for suicide bombings and killing civilians — glaring signs that the FBI did not act on but should have, a report has claimed.

Army Maj. Nidal Hasan told a radical Islamic cleric that he advocated using suicide bombers and that he believed it was OK to kill civilians.

And the terrorist, Anwar al-Awlaki, a man well-known to the U.S. intelligence community, told Hasan in an email that the Army psychiatrist should keep his contact details handy.

But the agents on the FBI’s Washington anti-terrorism task force thought the issue of a Muslim soldier talking to extremists was too sensitive to bring up with the Defense Department, Rep. Michael McCaul said after he was briefed on the findings of the independent review on Wednesday.

‘It shows you the length of the political correctness stuff going on,’ he told the Associated Press.

Read more from this story HERE.

Read my column about the Establishment’s War Against Bachmann HERE.

Read this recent story entitled “Republicans line up to rip Michele Bachmann” HERE.

Read the actual Fort Hood massacre report HERE.