March 3, 2015

This ad could cost Scott Walker the Iowa caucuses – and much more - By Joan Walsh

Seeking women’s votes in 2014, Walker claimed his abortion laws “left the final decision to a woman and her doctor"

JOAN WALSH

Just last week the New York Times told us that Scott Walker was toughening his anti-abortion stand to woo the powerful Christian right bloc that dominates early GOP presidential primary campaigns. He even committed to a version of controversial personhood legislation, which could outlaw some forms of birth control.

But Walker’s new crusade isn’t going so well. As Luke Brinker wrote here on Monday, anti-abortion advocates are aghast at a perplexing set of answers Walker gave on Fox News Sunday. The Wisconsin governor officially takes a hard line on abortion, opposing it even in cases of rape or incest. He’s signed laws tightening credentialing and hospital admitting privileges for doctors, and forcing women to undergo ultrasounds, with a written script describing the fetus and its development.

But on Sunday, the anti-abortion warrior came off as weak, even ambivalent.

“Well, I think ultimately, I’m pro-life because that’s an unborn child,” he babbled. “When I think of the ultra-sound picture that Tonette, my wife, and saw of our first son, who is now going to be 21 this June, it’s indistinguishable not to recognize that’s a human life. That’s why I’m pro-life.” Describing the tough anti-abortion laws he signed, Walker sounded tepid: “We acted on the grounds that we have legally to be able to act under the Supreme Court’s decision, um, we’ll act that way at the federal level if we were in a position like that as well, but ultimately it is a life.”

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http://www.salon.com/2015/03/03/this_ad_could_cost_scott_walker_the_iowa_caucuses_%E2%80%93_and_much_more/

March 3, 2015

FACT CHECK: Did Netanyahu go too far in US speech?

BRADLEY KLAPPER, ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overstated Iran’s domination of the Middle East and understated the timespan of the nuclear deal taking shape with Tehran, while neglecting the role of Congress in lifting Iranian sanctions, in his speech to U.S. lawmakers Tuesday.

On the whole, Netanyahu largely adhered to what is known about the nuclear negotiations between world powers and Iran, even if he predicted far direr consequences for the Middle East and the world if a deal is reached this month. His calculations on how close that might leave Iran to nuclear weapons capacity rested on solid footing.

Still, Netanyahu exaggerated at times for dramatic effect. On the length of an agreement, he wrongly asserted that restrictions on Iranian nuclear activity would come to a sudden end after a decade. Some constraints will be phased out while others will remain. And the Obama administration immediately disputed his account of an accord paving Iran’s “path to the bomb” and noted how short his address was on viable alternatives for dealing with Iran’s program.

A look at how some of Netanyahu’s arguments adhere to the facts as known, or the best public information detailing the confidential nuclear negotiations with Iran:

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http://www.salon.com/2015/03/03/fact_check_did_netanyahu_go_too_far_in_us_speech/

March 3, 2015

Bibi briefly said nice things about Obama, before trashing him and his intelligence for 45 mins.

Netanyahu’s shocking affront: What his stunning speech was really about

The Israeli PM briefly said nice things about Obama, before trashing him and his intelligence for 45 minutes

JIM NEWELL

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent a couple of minutes at the very beginning of his address to Congress — “the most important legislative body in the world,” he said, accurately and depressingly — praising the Obama administration. President Obama has always been there for Israel, he reassured. His administration blocks anything Israel wants it to block at the UN. Obama sends Israel all the military aid it needs. Netanyahu alluded to other, more classified moments when the President has come to the immediate help of the Prime Minister. “At each of those moments, I called the president and he was there.”

And this is how Netanyahu repays him: by going behind his back, at the invitation of John Boehner, to address the United States Congress about how the “very bad deal” that the administration hasn’t even finished negotiating with Iran, and is just as likely as not to reach.

This was a gross spectacle.

Where to begin? How about the section in the beginning where Netanyahu, patronizingly, delivers a history of the Iranian regime and its sponsorship of terrorism and insurgency against Americans in the region. Excuse me, but we don’t need to be told, by a foreign leader, how Iran has treated the United States. And then this: “Don’t be fooled. The battle between Iran and ISIS doesn’t turn Iran into a friend of America.” Again, thanks, but we’ll figure out our foreign policy for ourselves.

Netanyahu went on to describe the outlines of the deal, as rumored in the press. If you’re really so thankful to the Obama administration for putting its neck on the line in the international community so many times to defend Israel, then the first thing you might want to do is reconsider commenting, before the U.S. Congress, on murmurs thrown around in the press. “While the final deal has not yet been signed,” he said, “certain elements of any potential deal are now a matter of public record. You don’t need intelligence agencies and secret information to know this. You can Google it.” Yes, and we all know that anything that’s Googled is reliable information and merits official denunciation from a “friendly” visiting head of state on U.S. soil, in a campaign speech. It would be much less insulting if Netanyahu commented in such incendiary fashion after a framework had been reached at the end of the month, but of course that, if it even got that far, would come after the Israeli election.

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http://www.salon.com/2015/03/03/netanyahus_shocking_affront_what_his_stunning_speech_was_really_about/

March 3, 2015

BIBI WATCH: Dem Says Netanyahu 'Pulled Out The Dick Cheney Playbook'

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) on Tuesday bashed the "fear-mongering tactics" in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress.

Yarmuth, who did not attend the speech, said on Fox News that it was inappropriate for Netanyahu to deliver a speech "aimed at his own political dilemma" and one that raised fears about Iran's nuclear capabilities.

"What I objected to was the fact that he pulled out the Dick Cheney playbook and made statements that are unsupportable," he said. The congressman criticized Netanyahu for claiming that the nuclear deal the U.S. is currently negotiating with Iran "would pave the way to a bomb and nuclear war is inevitable."

"They are, again, fear-mongering tactics that don't advance the dialogue. And I knew he would do that, and I objected to the the speech," Yarmuth said.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/yarmuth-netanyahu-dick-cheney

March 3, 2015

Conservative Group Lashes Out At GOP Establishment Over DHS Cave

The Tea Party-aligned Senate Conservatives Fund hit back Tuesday at the establishment Republican-aligned American Action Network, which had attacked three conservative Republicans for opposing a deal that funded the Department of Homeland Security without rolling back President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration.

The Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) is pushing back at the $400,000 ad campaign launched by the American Action Network, hitting Reps. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), John Jordan (R-OH), and Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) for opposing a deal to fund DHS that doesn't roll back Obama's immigration orders.

"This is a direct attack on three constitutional conservatives by the Republican establishment to punish them for opposing House leadership," SCF President Ken Cuccinelli said in a statement. "These congressmen are fighting to stop the president's lawlessness and secure our nation's borders to protect us from future terrorist attacks. They're trying to keep the promises that the House leadership made last year, but have once again abandoned."

A day earlier the establishment-aligned American Action Network released ads arguing the three congressmen "are willing to put our security at risk by jeopardizing critical security funding."

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/senate-conservatives-fund-huelskamp-dhs-funding

March 3, 2015

BIBI WATCH: Pelosi 'Saddened' By 'Condescension' To US By Netanyahu

Source: TPM

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Tuesday criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech and his portrayal of the United States' knowledge of Iran's nuclear capabilities.

"The unbreakable bonds between the United States and Israel are rooted in our shared values, our common ideals and mutual interests," Pelosi said in a Tuesday statement following Netanyahu's speech to Congress. "That is why, as one who values the U.S. – Israel relationship, and loves Israel, I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech – saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation." Pelosi said that the U.S. is committed to stopping a nuclear-armed Iran.

"Today, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated something we all agree upon: a nuclear armed Iran is unacceptable to both our countries. We have all said that a bad deal is worse than no deal, and stopping the spread of nuclear weapons is the bedrock of our foreign policy and national security," she said. "As President Obama has said consistently, all options are on the table for preventing a nuclear-armed Iran."

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/pelosi-tears-netanyahu-condescension

March 3, 2015

Limbaugh Says Obama Treats Netanyahu 'Like A White Policeman From Ferguson'

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on his show Monday compared President Obama's actions toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to those directed toward "a white policeman from Ferguson."

With Netanyahu's speech before U.S. Congress scheduled for Tuesday, Limbaugh said, the Obama administration has been "trying to essentially poison the jury pool, just like they did in Ferguson."

"You look at how Obama has treated and does treat Netanyahu, you would think that Netanyahu was a white policeman from Ferguson, Missouri," Limbaugh continued. "Or that he was one of the cops that choked Eric Garner, or he was one of the jurors in the Trayvon Martin case."

Listen to the audio at Mediaite.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rush-limbaugh-ferguson-netanyahu

March 3, 2015

Pro-Russian Imperialism propaganda video targeting Obama goes viral — attracting millions of views

Source: Newsweek/Raw Story

March 3, 2015
Felicity Capon
Posted with permission from Newsweek

An online video defending Russian imperialism, which states that its intended recipient is U.S. president Barack Obama has gone viral, attracting millions of views and has even been tweeted by Russia’s deputy prime minister.

The sophisticated propaganda video, entitled, I, Russian Occupier, uses impressive graphics skills and video game imagery of soldiers and tanks, and begins with the words: “I’m a Russian occupant. It is my profession.” The video goes on to claim that historically places such as Siberia, Ukraine and the Baltic States have prospered thanks to Russian occupation, and have since declined and failed to modernise without Russia’s guidance.

After the Russian occupation of the Baltic States in 1940, the bellicose video claims that the countries were transformed from farmlands into factories and power plants making sophisticated electronic goods. “Now they sell sprats and part of their people clean toilets in Europe,” the video taunts.

The video then turns its attention to Ukraine, when it was part of the Soviet Union. “I occupied Ukraine. Together with the Ukrainians I built aircraft engines, ships, tanks and cars. I was asked to leave. Now they are destroying all that is left of the occupant. Moreover, they don’t build anything new, except for endless ‘Maidans’ and dictatorships.”

-snip-

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/pro-russian-imperialism-propaganda-video-targeting-obama-goes-viral-attracting-millions-of-views/

March 3, 2015

Boehner Caves In DHS Shutdown Fight Against Obama's Executive Actions

WASHINGTON — It was all but inevitable, and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) finally cut his losses on Tuesday, telling House Republicans he will allow a vote on legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security without any immigration restrictions.

The "clean" DHS funding bill could come up as early as Tuesday. It is expected to pass with overwhelming support from Democrats and enough House Republicans.

Boehner laid out three paths to his members in a weekly meeting, according to a source in the room: shutting down DHS, another short-term stopgap bill, or the Senate-passed clean DHS bill. He said the first two weren't good options.

"With more active threats coming into the homeland, I don’t believe that’s an option," Boehner said of a shutdown. "Imagine if, God forbid, another terrorist attack hits the United States."

It effectively ends the Republican threat to use a potential shutdown of DHS to overturn President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration, which Boehner promised to fight "tooth and nail" last year with the new GOP majorities in both chambers.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/boehner-caves-dhs-funding

March 3, 2015

Fox Terror Analyst Described As 'Idiot' By UK Prime Minister Speaking At AIPAC

The self-described terror expert who recently caused an international uproar and was called a "complete idiot" by British Prime Minister David Cameron was scheduled to speak at this this week's American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference.

Steve Emerson, who has spoken at AIPAC in previous years, appeared on a booklet listing speakers for AIPAC 2015. The booklet identified Emerson as an expert in "e-terrorism and Islamic extremism" and said he was speaking on Monday.

In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks in Paris, Emerson said on Fox News that the British city of Birhmingham was "totally Muslim." He later apologized for the comment.

Fox News also issued a correction for the segment, as well as for other segments covering the myth of European Muslim-only "no go zones."

Emerson's remarks sparked so much outrage that Cameron eventually weighed in. "When I heard this, frankly, I choked on my porridge and I thought it must be April Fool's Day," Cameron said. "This guy is clearly a complete idiot."

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/steve-emerson-aipac-fox-news-paris-uk