Goodbye, Sarge...
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Rep. Walter Jones, a North Carolina Republican, has introduced H. Concurrent Resolution 107, which calls on the House, the Senate Concurring, to prevent Obama from starting another war without authorization from Congress. The resolution was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary on March 7.[End of Quote]
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad’s rhetorical act of sabotage against his own state’s Republican primary, with his insistence that a potential Ron Paul victory should be ignored, represents an outrageous attempt to tamper with the election process.[end of excerpt]
As we reported earlier, Branstad told Politico that a Paul victory in the primary should be dismissed, urging Republicans to ignore the legitimacy of the result if the Texan Congressman comes out on top, which recent polls suggest he has a very good chance of doing. Politico adds that many fear “such a result….would do irreparable harm to the future role of the first-in-the-nation caucuses.”
“People are going to look at who comes in second and who comes in third,” said Branstad, adding, ““If [Mitt] Romney comes in a strong second, it definitely helps him going into New Hampshire and the other states,” comments taken to mean that Republicans should “ignore” Ron Paul, according to Politico’s Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns.
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If Branstad is rooting for anyone, it’s clearly Mitt Romney. Prominent Romney supporters are even trying to groom Branstad into becoming a candidate for Vice President under a Romney administration.
“1996 GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole broached the idea of Branstad as No. 2 on the ticket. Dole reportedly called Branstad this weekend to let him know he would be endorsing Mitt Romney for president, and said he’d like to recommend Iowa’s governor as a possible running mate,” reports USA Today.
Branstad downplayed his interest in the role, but said he was “flattered” to be considered.
Going into New Hampshire and ahead of two debates this weekend, Paul was polling in strong second, as he has been for some time. However, That did not stop CBS political correspondent Jan Crawford from showing graphics and talking about recent polling, without even mentioning Paul’s numbers or even that he was involved in the race at all.[End of Excerpt]
Crawford even used a graphic referencing a Suffolk University Poll of New Hampshire voters, omitting Paul’s numbers, even though he came second, and was the only candidate other than Mitt Romney to poll in double figures.
On January 2, Dana Bash told her husband, CNN anchor John King, that is she “worried” about Ron Paul’s success today in New Hampshire.[End of Excerpt]
She said it concerns her and establishment Republicans that he will continue to push on with his campaign through the spring and summer right up to the election.
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Note that it is Bash who has been tasked with following Ron Paul around on behalf of CNN. Paul’s campaign yesterday cut off an interview with her after she tried to blame Paul for the media swarm in a New Hampshire restaurant that forced Paul to cut short a meet and greet, a fracas that was wholly a creation of the media itself.
Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday blasted the Defense Department for classifying the Fort Hood massacre as workplace violence and suggested political correctness is being placed above the security of the nation's Armed Forces at home.
During a joint session of the Senate and House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, the Maine Republican referenced a letter from the Defense Department depicting the Fort Hood shootings as workplace violence. She criticized the Obama administration for failing to identify the threat as radical Islam.
"The documents attached illustrate how the Department is dealing with the threat of violent Islamist extremism in the context of a broader threat of workplace violence," read the letter, which was obtained by Fox News.
Thirteen people were killed and dozens more wounded at Fort Hood in 2009, and the number of alleged plots targeting the military has grown significantly since then. Lawmakers said there have been 33 plots against the U.S. military since Sept. 11, 2001, and 70 percent of those threats have been since mid-2009. Major Nidal Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, who is being held for the attacks, allegedly was inspired by radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in late September. The two men exchanged as many as 20 emails, according to U.S. officials, and Awlaki declared Hasan a hero.
The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, said the military has become a "direct target of violent Islamist extremism" within the United States.
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Rep. Peter King of New York, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said military service members are "symbols of America's power, symbols of America's might."
"And if they (military personnel) can be killed, then that is a great propaganda victory for al Qaeda," King told Fox News.
King said there is also evidence that extremists have joined the services.
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While King was heavily criticized, in some quarters, for launching his hearings 10 months ago on homegrown terrorism, the congressman said the joint session shows the threat is legitimate, and recognized as such by other members of Congress.
"To me it's a validation of what I've been trying to do all year," King emphasized. "There's a definite threat from Islamic radicalization in various parts of our society, including within the military, and we can't allow political correctness to keep us from exposing this threat for what it is."