Free Republic

Big Sis: Obama Admin Can Pick Which Laws to Enforce by Matthew Boyle 24 Apr 2013, 11:10 AM PDT During her testimony on the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano declared that she, President Barack Obama and other political officials at the top of this administration have the authority to decide which laws to enforce, and which ones to ignore. Napolitano made the declaration in an exchange with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) when he was questioning her on how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have alleged...

The Minister Louis Farrakhan’s son, Mustapha, is making headlines in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs after some intriguing claims were made in a Chicago Sun-Times article on Sunday. A registered police officer with the Harvey Police Department in Harvey, Illinois, Mustapa allegedly hasn’t worked a shift in more than four years. However, that’s not what’s raising eyebrows. According to state records, a lack of employment activity with the police force hasn’t stopped the man, known as “Supreme Captain” of the Nation of Islam (a title that means he could one day take his father’s place) from purportedly exercising police duties....

Mark Potok, a fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center, appeared on MSNBC to discuss the rise of right-wing militias over the course of the Obama presidency in connection with the bombing of the Boston Marathon on Monday. He said that foreign nations view Americans as being “insane” for allowing hate speech to continue to be protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Alex Wagner said that it remains unclear whether the attack on the Boston Marathon was perpetrated by foreign or domestic elements. “But the mere fact that both are being treated with the same amount of suspicion...

In explaining why President Obama didn't call the Boston bombings a "terrorist attack," former adviser David Axelrod said, "I'm sure what was going through the president's mind is -- we really don't know who did this -- it was tax day": "The word has taken on a different meaning since 9/11," Axelrod said of the phrase "terrorist attack." "You use those words and it means something very specific in people's mind. And I'm sure what was going through the president's mind is -- we really don't know who did this -- it was tax day. Was it someone who was...

Politico story claim gun owners support Obama’s ‘universal background checks’The liberal media will do anything to pressure lawmakers to support President Obama’s gun-control agenda. Politico published a story Wednesday with this headline: “Hunting Group Wants Background Checks.” The story gave the false impression that the millions of hunters in the U.S. support Mr. Obama’s push for “universal background checks.” That is way off target. In fact, 31 well-known hunting and conservation groups sent a letter to Capitol Hill Thursday expressing opposition to intrusion by the federal government into private firearm transfers. Politico only cites one small group in its story,...

The executive order will direct the commission to produce a report for Obama within six months of its first public meeting, principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said. The panel will be tasked with considering "a variety of ways to shorten lines and promote the efficient conduct of elections" and its findings will be "intended to serve as a best practices guide for state and local election officials to improve voters' experience at the polls under their existing election laws."

Despite a federal ruling that Illinois' concealed carry ban is unconstitutional, police, prosecutors and judges alike say they are disregarding the finding and continuing to enforce the law — at least for now. Police say they continue to arrest those who violate the state's ban on carrying a gun in public, and prosecutors continue to charge them. Backing up the authorities — but perhaps creating more confusion — a state court ruled last week that the federal decision is not binding on Illinois courts and upheld the nation's last concealed carry ban as constitutional. The resulting contradiction has left some...

Colorado sheriff says lawmakers holding up pay raises over gun stance By Maxim Lott Published March 26, 2013 | FoxNews.com One of a handful of Colorado sheriffs who oppose several gun control bills working their way through the state legislature claims lawmakers are threatening the salaries of sheriffs to punish them for their position. The clash comes as pro-gun control elected leaders seek tighter restrictions on firearms in the wake of the Aurora movie massacre last summer and the Dec. 14 school shooting in Newtown, Conn. El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, while saying he would be obliged to enforce...

(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) -- Republicans may still get the last laugh after Arkansas Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe vetoed a bill requiring voters to present photo identification during elections. While GOP lawmakers said the legislation is intended to reduce voter fraud, Beebe argued that it was actually "an expensive solution in search of a problem." Since Republicans took over the Arkansas Legislature for the first time since the late 1880s, it's more than likely they'll override the veto with a simple majority. GOP lawmakers throughout the country have attempted to enact similar bills that Democrats contend is a blatant attempt to...

A federal grand jury Friday indicted ousted Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper for tax violations. Prosecutors charged Harper, 60, of Stanton Heights with four counts of “tax problems” and one count of conspiracy. He is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchell. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Cessar appeared before the judge with the indictment and the grand jury foreman. The indictment comes two months after the Tribune-Review reported the grand jury's work and one month after Mayor Luke Ravenstahl forced Harper to resign his post. Harper led the department since 2006. The grand jury was investigating Harper's involvement...

HAMMOND | Former Lake County Clerk Thomas Philpot was sentenced to 18 months in prison Thursday for stealing thousands of dollars in public child support incentive funds over which he had control. Philpot, who also served as Lake County coroner, was ordered to surrender April 3 to a federal correctional camp in Pekin, Ill. Federal defendants usually serve at least 85 percent of their sentence, which means Philpot likely will spend at least 15 months in prison. Senior U.S. District Court Judge James Moody asked himself out loud, why did Philpot, an intelligent, well-trained man familiar with the proper workings...

Manassas, VA --(Ammoland.com)- Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) has published some of the details of her new “assault weapons” ban, and it’s even uglier than anticipated. It is expected was introduced on January 22 2013, the first day the Senate accepts bills for the new session. Meanwhile, on the first day of the new session in the House of Representatives, several legislators introduced - or reintroduced - a variety of anti-rights bills. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) has 4 bills: H.R.137 requiring background checks on all firearm transfers, H.R.138 banning possession and transfer of magazines with a capacity over 10 rounds, H.R.141 regulating...

In the past several days, we’ve learned about how you too can gain a degree of public sympathy if you plan to embark on a killing spree and then go into hiding as you bide your time waiting to kill again: Write a “manifesto” dominated by anti-police rants, a “progressive” outlook towards Second Amendment freedoms and support for leftist politicians. That’s what former Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner, who is accused of killing Monica Quan, Keith Lawrence, and an as yet unnamed LAPD officer while wounding two others, has done. His sympathy-by-manifesto strategy has been alarmingly successful. Dorner’s...

It’s been nearly three months since Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from Congress, but now NBC News confirms that Jackson has signed papers in a plea deal within the past several days. Jackson’s case is being handled by the US Attorney’s office in Washington DC. While no public announcement is expected today, those with knowledge of the investigation believe the loose ends now deal with Jackson’s wife, former Alderman Sandi Jackson, and whether or not she is ultimately charged. Under the terms of the deal Jackson signed, he pleads guilty and his fate – as to jail time – would be...

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- Reports out of Capitol Hill reveal that just-reelected turncoat West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is about to stick a big knife in the back of American gun owners. And to make matters worse, he’s lying about what he’s doing. Both Manchin and House anti-gun crazy Carolyn McCarthy are claiming to be “working with NRA” to enact gun bans and national gun registries. NRA says flatly that Manchin is lying, and we believe he is. (The Hill, 1/24/13) Ironically, Manchin was the “gun owner’s best friend” on November 5 2012 — the day before his reelection to a...

New York City schools are offering young girls a full menu of birth control options, free of parental counsel, thanks to an unpublicized project by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration. School nurses handed out 12,721 doses of the Plan B One-Step “morning-after” pill in 2011-12, up from 10,720 in 2010-11 and 5,039 in 2009-10, the New York Post reports. Mona Davids, president of the NYC Parents Union, was stunned by the report. “I’m in shock,” she said. “What gives the mayor the right to decide, without adequate notice, to give our children drugs that will impact their bodies and their psyches?...

Gun control isn’t about banning guns, it’s about banning people who aren’t well-connected from having guns. If you’re a Wal-Mart shopper then you’re not supposed to have a gun. If you’re David Brock, then that’s a whole other story… A staffer at left-wing Media Matters for America committed numerous felonies in the District of Columbia and around the country by carrying a firearm to defend the organization’s founder, David Brock, The Daily Caller has learned. -SNIP-TheDC has learned that by that time, Brock had armed his assistant — who had no permit to carry a concealed firearm — with a...

Today a special investigation by The Daily Caller reveals that a State Department contract specialist participated in awarding more than 43 federal contracts worth $52 million in taxpayer-funds to Sterling Royale Group, a company owned and operated by her husband and daughter. If you think THAT’s something, may I remind you of this story that apparently was scrubbed from the MetroActive website where it first appeared, and was deemed by World Net Daily as one of the Top Ten Most Ignored Stories of 2007.

Gun-control advocates have recently been throwing around an impressive new number. President Obama used it last Wednesday, claiming: “as many as 40 percent of guns are purchased without a background check.” Vice President Biden and everyone from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal to USA Today repeatedly use it. That “fact” provided the principal support for his first announced gun-control proposal, “universal background checks.” But unless you include family inheritances and gifts as “purchases,” it is simply false.The Brady Act background checks currently prevent someone who buys from a federally licensed dealer from buying a gun...

By Mr. Curmudgeon:While President Obama took to the airwaves in his weekly radio address, urging Congress to "act soon" in passing sweeping gun-control measures, the Phoenix Drug Enforcement Administration announced that it recovered 43 weapons Obama's Justice Department sold to Mexican drug gangs as part of its infamous Operation Fast and Furious.According to ABC's Phoenix affiliate KNXV-TV, Phoenix drug enforcement agents recovered the weapons after arrests were made near the Phoenix-Tolleson border. "Four of the suspects are listed as undocumented immigrants. The fifth suspect had been admitted to the United States under a non-immigrant visa," said KNXV-TV.In a 2011 letter...