Video: The Koch Brothers Strike Back With Blistering Ad

In a new ad released Monday, The fabulous Koch brothers hit back at Dingy Harry and one of his crony billionaire backers, the anti-Keystone Pipeline Greenie Tom Steyer.  The ad, paid for by American Commitment, a 501(c)(4) group that is part of the Koch non-profit network, is running online only, and is being pushed in Louisiana, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Michigan.

Via NRO:

The ad, “Steyer Infection,” juxtaposes Harry Reid’s denunciation of the Koch brothers with a narrative about Reid’s relationship with billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer and his brother Jim, who runs a ratings service for children’s products.

“This is about two very wealthy brothers who intend to buy their own Congress,” it shows Reid saying in a speech earlier this month on the Senate floor. “You see when you make billions of dollars a year, you can be I guess as immoral and dishonest as your money will allow you to be.”​

SEE ALSO:

Eliana Johnson, NRO: Inside the Koch-Funded Ads Giving Dems Fits:

In one of the ads Americans for Prosperity (AFP) has put on the air this year, a thirtysomething actress stands against a white backdrop and looks into the camera. “People don’t like political ads,” she says plaintively. “I don’t like them either. But health care isn’t about politics, it’s about people, and millions of people have lost their health insurance, millions of people can’t see their own doctors, and millions are paying more and getting less.” At the close, a narrator urges viewers to “tell Mary Landrieu to stop thinking about politics and start thinking about people.” Such ads have also run against Mark Pryor in Arkansas, Mark Udall in Colorado, and incumbent Democratic House members in Arizona, Florida, and New Hampshire.

Ads like the “white ad,” as it has become known, are not new to 2014. They are part of a sustained assault against Obamacare mounted with the help of the donor network organized by Charles and David Koch and the array of social-welfare groups it funds.

Keep reading at the link.

Powerline: DID THE WASHINGTON POST COLLABORATE WITH CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS TO SMEAR THE KOCH BROTHERS? THE INVESTIGATION CONTINUES:

So far, I have heard nothing in response to my email to Washington Post reporters Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson about their possible coordination with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressman Henry Waxman or other Democrats in writing the article about the Keystone pipeline that I critiqued here and here. I will follow up with them in due course. In the meantime, I have written the following letter to Whitehouse and Waxman:

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Sick: DHS Released 68,000 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions in 2013

Remember the outrage when it was discovered that DHS was using last year’s sequestration as a pretext to release thousands of illegal immigrants with criminal convictions? Sheriff Babeu of Pinal County, AZ  told Jed Babbin of The American Spectator that he was receiving frantic calls from ICE and Border Patrol agents who were calling him unofficially. Babeu said, “Good people who work for ICE, work for Border Patrol, they call me all the time.…They said, ‘Sheriff, help us. We’re releasing all these criminals. This order just came down from Washington and now they’re all out in the streets.”

Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano called that a “myth.”

“There was a story that ran last week that said ‘we released 2,000 detainees because of sequester’ Napolitano said, mocking the hype inferred by the headline.

“That is really not accurate,” she insisted.

“That was not a Politico story by the way,” Allen responded.

“It was not a Politico story, I will hasten to say, and I won’t say who put it out there,” Napolitano added. “But as in all things immigration it develops its own mythology.

Well, here’s your “myth” and I will hasten to add that it was not the Politico who “put it out there.” It was an internal document from DHS itself:

Via The Hill:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials last year released 68,000 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions, undercutting Democratic claims that President Obama has strictly enforced immigration laws.

An internal Department of Homeland Security document compiling statistics on arrests and deportations in 2013 showed that ICE agents encountered 193,357 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions but issued charging documents for only 125,478. More than 67,800 were released.

The data came from an end-of-year “Weekly Departures and Detention Report.”

***

ICE classifies illegal immigrants as criminal if they have been convicted of a crime, not including traffic offense, Vaughn noted.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee, blasted the administration’s record.

“The preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that immigration enforcement in America has collapsed. Even those with criminal convictions are being released. DHS is a department in crisis,” he said in a statement Sunday.

“Secretary Johnson must reject the president’s demands to weaken enforcement further and tell him that his duty, and his officers’ duty, is to enforce the law – not break it,” he added in reference to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.

A spokeswoman for ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

So what kind of criminals has ICE been releasing –  68,000 in one year –  into the population?

Last year, while the controversy was raging, Sheriff Babeu explained in terrifying detail just how bad some of these guys are:

 Pinal County Sheriff, Paul Babeu noted that among those released were criminals who had been “convicted not just charged – convicted for weapons violations, drug smuggling, (these are cartel members, these are narcotic traffickers!), drug dealers, these are people who have been in fights,  and aggravated assaults against police officers…. How in the world can you say these are low risk, non criminal detainees?!  These are the worst of the worst. These are people who have been convicted of child molestation! We have people who have been released, I’ve been told by ICE agents, who have been  charged with man-slaughter.”

Where are the whistleblowers?   Babeu told Jeanine Pirro, a year ago that “several memos have been sent out to ICE agents about the prisoner releases, and anyone who talked about it “outside our agency shall be disciplined up to and including termination, creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.”  He said, “these federal agents, who swore an oath to protect our country, are being intimidated from doing the right thing.”

And the beat goes on. We’ve got three more years of this God-awful nightmare to go.

Related:

WHD: Obama Fails to Deport Hundreds of Thousands of Known Illegals:

The Obama administration is deporting only about a quarter of the illegal immigrants it picks up, even though most come to their attention because of proven or alleged criminal behavior, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative group.

From the CIS report:

In 2013, (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) reported 722,000 encounters with potentially deportable aliens, most of whom came to their attention after incarceration for a local arrest. Yet ICE officials followed through with immigration charges for only 195,000 of these aliens, only about one-fourth . . .

Many of the aliens ignored by ICE were convicted criminals. In 2013, ICE agents released 68,000 aliens with criminal convictions, or 35 percent of all criminal aliens they reported encountering. The criminal alien releases typically occur without formal notice to local law enforcement agencies and victims.

Hat tip: AoSHQ

Doug Shoen: “Putin wants to put the Soviet Union back together, and we’re not stopping him.” (Video)

On Sunday, Sec. of State John Kerry stated that questions regarding the further federalization of Ukraine was up to Ukrainian citizens, not outside powers, following a meeting in Paris with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov,

Lavrov had stated earlier that Ukraine would not be able to function as a unified state and should push for decentralized governance that provides regions with greater autonomy.

“It is not up to us to make any decision or agreement regarding federalization. It is up to Ukrainians,” said Kerry.

Kerry also went on to condemn the presence of an estimated 40,000 Russian troops currently gathered along the Ukrainian border.

Fox News’ Political Insiders Pat Caddell, Doug “Bottom Line” Schoen, John LeBoutillier joined Harris Faulkner, Sunday evening to talk about the Kerry meeting.

Schoen shared what he called, Shoen’s Law: “Lavrov + Kerry = capitulation. Put simply, Harris, when we talk about the federalization of Ukraine, it is effectively as if we were talking about the break up of a sovereign nation – who are in the midst of a presidential election – this is unbelievable that this is going on, and I must tell you – I’m deeply concerned.”

Caddell agreed, noting that the parallels to Neville chamberlain is frightening. He suggested that what Putin said when he called Obama, was “I’m gonna need Moldavia, I’m gonna need the Balkan states…”

He continued, “this is not going to stop, and his statement, ‘I have no more territorial demands’ – it’s exactly what Adolf Hitler said.” And repeating his refrain from the past few weeks, Caddell declared, “we’re surrendering everything.”

Shoen said, “Putin wants to put the Soviet Union back together, and we’re not stopping him.”

And he continued (using his favorite phrase,  “bottom line” twice in one sentence) “Our troop levels are at their lowest levels in the last 40 years, we’re cutting our defense budget, as the Russian and Chinese are increasing their budgets by 10 – 12%. Bottom line – we’re not prepared to fight a war, we’re certainly not prepared to fight on multiple fronts…bottom line, Harris – we’re in trouble.”

In Caddell’s opinion,  Obama “appears to be committed to what is essentially unilateral disarmament.”

Around the world and at home, the Insiders noted, polling shows that the United States is seen as weaker today, than before Obama was elected.

Pat Caddell said, Obama is “the first American president I believe who does not particularly think America is an exceptional nation – and acts like it.”

Shoen agreed, “when I travel around the world and talk to people about our administration, people are confused, they’re aghast – and they believe that we are weak and without leadership.”

When the conversation moved to the latest ObamaCare delay, and the Regime’s bogus signup numbers, Caddell said, “look, all of this is basically a refusal to acknowledge that ObamaCare needs to be fixed.”

They talked about the new health care plan than that is being proposed (by Democrats) “to save their skin in the elections”, slamming the Republicans for not putting forward a plan of their own – (even though there are several good proposals out there, including a recent proposal from Senate Republicans.)

Moving on to the Republican presidential candidates, they said, “Chris Christie is in severe political distress” due to bridge-gate and Jeb Bush is profiting off of that because the GOP establishment big money bundlers are now favoring him. (insane, I know.)

“He’s running worse in the polls than anyone,” Caddell noted,  “because half the country says under no circumstances will we vote for another Bush.”

 

 

Church Militant: The Pope, the Press and the People (Video)

Kathryn Jean Lopex of NRO interviewed Alejandro Bermudez,  the editor of Pope Francis — Our Brother, Our Friend: Personal Recollections about the Man Who Became Pope  about Pope Francis’s first year as pontiff on the anniversary of his election. She asked him what his ‘best explanation and understanding of what people are calling the “Francis effect”?’

Bermudez answered; ‘the “Francis effect” is probably the best name, as vague as it is, to describe this phenomenon, since I find hard to pinpoint what has made Pope Francis such a colossal figure in today’s world. Is it his warm, loving concern for the little ones? Is it his testimony of a simple, humble life? Is it his message of mercy and forgiveness? Is it a combination of all those or something else? I don’t think anyone can pinpoint it. But the fact is that Pope Francis has revitalized the presence of the Catholic Church and opened new opportunities to re-propose the tenets of Christianity to a confused world. That is the “Francis effect.”’

 

“The Francis effect” was the topic of discussion in this recent episode of “Church Militant” with Michael Voris and a number of  his distinguished guests.

Who is capitalizing on this “Francis Effect” and does it even involve Pope Francis??
Kicking off the show will be Erin Mersino from the Thomas More Law Center to discuss with us the Oral Arguments that took place for the Hobby Lobby/HHS Mandate Supreme court case.
After that, Michael will welcome John DeJak, President of the Bellarmine Forum.
Also, joining Michael to discuss his book, “The Vatican Diaries”, will be author, John Thavis.
In the Bulk of the show Michael will welcome Joe Garcia and Kate O’Hare, two writers who have discovered massive errors in what Pope Francis has said compared to how Pope Francis has been translated.

 

 

Your Sunday Hymn: Like A Shepherd

For the 4th Sunday of Lent, a gentle psalm based hymn –  Like a Shepherd by Bob Dufford – Saint Louis Jesuits.

In loving memory of Newsbusters’ Noel Sheppard, who sadly succumbed to cancer, Friday morning.

With lyrics:

Judge Jeanine slams Obama: Putin’s Been Bitchslapping You Since the Edward Snowden Mess (Video)

Judge Jeanine unloaded on Obama in her opening statement, Saturday night, saying that he continues to fumble on the world stage, and is single-handedly bringing about the decline of America as a world power.

She declared that it has been going on since Obama took office with the finger wagging, the red lines, and removing of economic sanctions against Iran, relying on Russia to broker a deal with Syria, letting 4 American die in Benghazi etc.

“Our enemies now see us as weak and are emboldened” she complained. “All while our president trumpets the reduction of our military on the world stage.”

She continued the tongue lashing, “while Obama moves tea cups, Putin is moving soldiers and tanks.”

After noting that he took down the missile defense system in Poland with nothing in return, she asked exasperatingly, “why are you doing this? Do you even know who our enemies are? Do you know that your obligation is to protect us and protect our economy? And you say Russia is a regional power? With all due respect, Mr. President, Putin is a pig – but he’s been bitch-slapping you since the Edward Snowden mess.

Pirro spoke with the “infamous” Stephen Cohen Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies of NYU and Princeton University, who also writes at the Nation and is married to Katrina vanden Heuvel. Certainly a man of the left, he is considered by some  on the right to be a “commie apologist” and “a slavish defender of Putinism,” but he doesn’t come off that way to me.

A regular guest on the John Batchelor Show (a moderate establishment type Republican), the 76 year old Cohen has an incisive, sharp intellect, and a differing point of view that shouldn’t be breezily dismissed. He tried to explain “the other side of the story” in the brief amount of time he had with Jeanine Pirro, whom I adore, but she did seem to be a bit out of her depth with Professor Cohen.

Also check out this fascinating read by Cathy Young of Reason, in The Daily Beast, if you’d like to understand what makes “Vladimir Putin’s Best Friend in the American Media” tick.

He is a great historian of Stalinism who has been celebrated by colleagues on the left and right. So why is Stephen F. Cohen so eager to act as a propagandist for Putin?

Stephen F. Cohen, a veteran Russian scholar at New York University and Princeton, has lately gained some dubious notoriety as Vladimir Putin’s number one apologist in the ranks of American punditry. After a piece in The Nationslamming the American media for “toxic” anti-Putin reporting and a CNN appearance defending Putin’s incursion into Crimea as an attempt to protect “Russia’s traditional zones of national security,” Cohen was excoriated not just by the conservative media but by The New Republic and New York magazine. More recently, a critical but respectful feature in Newsweek dubbed him “the man who dared make Putin’s case.”

 

Pirro and Betsy McGaughey, auther of the new book, Beating ObamaCare in 2014,  discussed the latest inflated ObamaCare numbers.

She also had on Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice to discuss the Hobby Lobby religious liberty case. In Sekulow’s opinion, the Supreme Court opinion shouldn’t be close.