Temple, TX Police Department at heart of National Story may have a new problem on its hands

This past March, Army Master Sgt. C.J. Grisham was arrested by Temple, TX police for "rudely displaying" his firearm. During the arrest, Grisham had his son record the incident on his video camera. The video has gone viral and has garnered millions of views. Grisham is suing the police department and has been quite outspoken about his experience.

Conversely, as outspoken as Grisham has been, the Police Chief - Gary Smith - has been silent on the matter, which has been increasingly counter-productive. As the video of the incident continued to pick up momentum, Smith's silence has only seemed to add fuel to that momentum.

It appears that the Temple Police Department has another situation to deal with on the eve of an event that is scheduled to take place outside the Police station on June 1st that is partially in response to Grisham's arrest. Before we get to the event, have a look at an article from the Temple Daily Telegram (h/t Lynn Woolley). Police allegedly arrested a teen at Wal-Mart for a theft he wasn't involved in and proceeded to break his collar bone, possibly after using the teen's body to wipe up the floor after he spit in front of them.

What's more is that the police report of the arrest was not available for review as of May 24th. The Telegram reporter was told she would have to wait until Tuesday, May 28th to get an account of what took place.

Article from the Temple Daily Telegram

Two things here.

1. Unless the teen was concerned for his girlfriend's safety, he probably shouldn't have gone into the store to see an arrest.
2. If he spit on the floor as a show of disrespect to police, also not a good thing and he shouldn't have done it, even if the Police did as has been reported. If, however, he spit on the floor because of something physiological in response to being roughed up, that's a different story.

Nonetheless, it would seem the police have another problem on their hands. As was the case with Grisham, clamming up is proving counter-productive; it almost makes it seem like TPD is exercising its own Miranda rights.

As for that June 1st event, it would seem that unless the TPD gets out in front of the Wal-Mart arrest and is more forthcoming than it's been over the Grisham matter, it will only be fueling the event.

Not good.

Via Come and Take It Temple:

We will be gathering for a legal armed open carry march to raise public awareness of gun laws in Texas. It is partially in response to the Temple Police Department violating the Second and Fourth Amendment rights of Active Duty MSGT Christopher J. Grisham HERE. Please join us all. We will be exercising our rights as free men and women. Be part of the solution. All permits and armed march route has been approved and coordinated with the city and local authorities. Come out for music, great speakers, food and a march around the police station and town square.

When:  June 1st
Where: Temple, TX
Venue: Community Market 212 S. Main St.
Time:  10:00am-4:00pm

Here is video of Grisham's encounter with the Temple Police in March:

Kermit Gosnell 2.0: The despicably heinous charges against a Houston abortionist

Leftists have justified their support for abortion by saying that the crimes of Kermit Gosnell were simply those of a rogue, unclean abortion doctor. In fact, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid expressed this exact view. Gosnell's Philadelphia 'clinic' was an 'outlier', they said.

These heartless people have a new problem and its name is Douglas Karpen, an abortionist in Houston. Like Gosnell, Karpen allegedly zeroed in on the necks of babies who survived botched abortions. Unlike Gosnell, Karpen reportedly used several different techniques.

Via the Daily Mail:

Houston doctor Douglas Karpen is accused by four former employees of delivering live fetuses during third-trimester abortions and killing them by either snipping their spinal cord, stabbing a surgical instrument into their heads or 'twisting their heads off their necks with his own bare hands'.

Other times the fetus was so big he would have to pull it out of the womb in pieces, Karpen's ex-assistant, Deborah Edge, said in an Operation Rescue video, which has prompted a criminal investigation into the doctor. 

'Sometimes he couldn't get the fetus out... he would yank pieces – piece by piece – when they were oversize,' Edge explained.

'And I'm talking about the whole floor dirty. I'm talking about me drenched in blood.'

Two of Edge's colleagues, Gigi Aguliar, and Krystal Rodriguez, also described the hellish scenes which took place at the Aaron Women's Clinic in Houston in 2011, and possibly two other abortion clinics run by Karpen in Texas.

Here is a documentary on Karpen.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell epitomized the phrase made famous during the Nuremberg trials. That phrase was - and is - the banality of evil. In fact, if one were honest with himself, the trial that ultimately found him guilty of enough charges to put him away for life was a mini-Nuremberg trial. What went on inside that Philadelphia clinic was simply a microcosm of the exact same evil.

The left did its level best to ignore the trial as well as the case, altogether.

A video was made about Gosnell's clinic too. It was entitled 3801 Lancaster and you can view it here:

Anthony, TX: Where TWO of Hillary's most problematic Filmmakers are locked up

The anti-Muhammad filmmaker - Nakoula Basseley Nakoula - currently sits in a federal prison in West Texas. So does another thorn in Hillary Clinton's side. His name is Peter Paul. That two of Hillary's most problematic individuals are locked up in the same federal prison is indeed worth a look, especially since Paul is serving a sentence that is longer than what the maximum sentence for his crime allows.

If there was a single individual who came out of the May 8th Benghazi hearings looking worse than anyone else, it was former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The number two man in Libya - before Ambassador Christopher Stevens was murdered - was Gregory Hicks. During his testimony, all signs pointed to the buck needing to stop at the very top of the State Department. Cheryl Mills, Hillary's Chief of Staff, was named as a key player in what is to objective eyes, a cover-up.

Barack Obama doesn't exactly have a reputation for telling the truth but when he referred to Nakoula Basseley Nakoula - the alleged man behind the anti-Muhammad video blamed for the 9/11/12 Benghazi attacks - as a 'shadowy character', Obama said something truthful. While the alleged filmmaker's past associations should certainly raise more eyebrows than they currently do, Nakoula is seemingly being kept in the shadows by the administration.

No one could have accurately predicted that an obscure YouTube video Nakoula was involved in producing would be a central component in the cover-up of the Benghazi attacks. On September 14th, just three days after the attacks, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton allegedly told the father of Tyrone Woods - the former Navy SEAL who was murdered in Benghazi - that the man behind the film would be arrested and prosecuted.

If the administration wanted Nakoula locked up not just to send a message to the Muslim world but also to prevent his story from being told, it certainly picked an interesting place to put him.

In his article the Benghazi Patsy, Rich Lowry writes:

...Nakoula was brought in for questioning by five Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies at midnight, eventually arrested and held without bond, and finally thrown into jail for a year. He sits in La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution in Texas right now, even as the deceptive spin that blamed his video for the Benghazi attack looks more egregious by the day.

If Nakoula's story provides trouble for Hillary Clinton, the fact that he sits at the La Tuna facility is a case of history repeating itself, which leads to the story of Peter Paul, who isn't scheduled to be released until 2014. The problem with that release date is that the maximum sentence for Paul's crime is ten years and he was first jailed for his alleged white-collar crime in 2001 - in a Brazilian prison, with hardened criminals.

In short, in 2000, Paul was a Hollywood mogul and put on a star-studded gala for Bill and Hillary. For Bill, it was a farewell gala and for Hillary, it was a campaign fundraiser for her U.S. Senate run in New York. In exchange, Paul expected Bill to work for him and Stan Lee (of Marvel Comics fame) as a rainmaker for Paul's company after Bill left office.

Unfortunately for Paul, once the gala was over, the Clintons reneged and he was discarded. Unfortunately for the Clintons (Hillary in particular), Paul would not go quietly. In 2007, while under house arrest, he put together a team that produced a documentary entitled, Hillary Uncensored. For nearly a decade, he dogged Hillary relentlessly. The trailer for his video - seen below - caught fire just as Hillary's primary with Obama was heating up. In fact, in October of that year, the video was the number one viewed video on Google, garnering more than 50,000 views / day. Then, magically, on one Saturday in early November, it was no longer in Google's top 100 videos.

When all was said and done, the trailer got more than 10 Million views before Hillary conceded defeat to Obama for the nomination.

Here is that trailer:

What if Fast and Furious guns used in murders of Prosecutors?

After Jared Loughner shot Gabrielle Giffords along with several others in a Tucson parking lot, there was grave concern among ATF agents that a Fast and Furious gun may have been used. It wasn't but now that we're seeing the shooting deaths elected officials (a prison chief in Colorado and two prosecutors in Texas), there is certainly no doubt that similar fears are rearing their heads about weapons from that ATF operation being involved.

An ABC News report on the murders is below. Though Fast and Furious is not mentioned, drug trafficking is. While there is a narrative setting in that the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) is suspected of being involved, Mexican drug cartels are certainly a possibility as well. We also know that hundreds - if not thousands - of Fast and Furious weapons have still not been recovered.

Another red flag for those suspicious of getting the truth about what is happening is that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is being viewed as a source of expertise - in both the news report below and other places. This group is extremely far left and has an agenda that does not usually involve getting to the truth.

h/t Freedom's Lighthouse:

Video: Interview with Ted Cruz

In an interview with CBN, U.S. Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz said two very significant things that resonate with true conservatives. One was that Barack Obama is the 'most radical' president we've ever seen. The other is that by failing to stand on principles, many Republicans should share some blame for that 'most radical' president being elected in the first place (ain't that the truth!).

The biggest frustration among conservatives is an unwillingness (cowardice) to fight on the part of Republicans. It's early but Cruz is showing signs of galvanizing such conservatives. A consequence of that - as we found out with Sarah Palin - is relentless media attacks. The good news? Cruz's effectiveness will rise in direct proportion to how much he is attacked in the media.

Via CBN:



Here is the perfect example to demonstrate how best to deal with the media (pay attention, Boehner). After the mainstream media dredged up what they thought would be considered outrageous comments by Cruz years ago - that the Harvard faculty is rife with Marxists - the Senator from Texas did not go on defense; he went on offense with a super-appropriate tweet.

Via Ted Cruz:

MSNBC is shocked -- shocked -- to discover that there are Marxists on the Harvard faculty... youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi0…
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 23, 2013

Audio: Today's Podcast

On today's program...

* ATF's latest flawed gun scandal... in MIlwaukee
* How's that Arab Spring thing going? Guy who helped spearhead revolution in Egypt doesn't like the result
* Texas Muslim State Capitol day in Austin

1993 Video: Killeen, TX woman testifies in front of Congress after losing her parents because of Gun Control

In 1991, Susan Gratia-Hupp went to a Luby's restaurant in Killeen, TX (not far from where Nidal Malik Hasan killed 14 and injured 32 in a gun-free zone eighteen years later) with her parents. Hupp left her gun in the car because Texas law prohibited her from taking it inside. Watch her tell the story of what happened next.

A couple of years ago, Hupp spoke at a Tea Party rally I attended and she has just as much fire and passion today as she expressed in that 1993 hearing.

While you're at it, watch Chuck Schumer's face and then ask yourself if his motives for gun control today are pure.

They are not.

Via Breitbart, which is calling for Piers Morgan to have Hupp on his show.

Just sent this Fax to Governor Rick Perry's office

It was nice to see this statement from my Governor, Rick Perry in which he said, in part, the following:

...the piling on by the political left, and their cohorts in the media, to use the massacre of little children to advance a pre-existing political agenda that would not have saved those children, disgusts me, personally. The second amendment to the Constitution is a basic right of free people and cannot be nor will it be abridged by the executive power of this or any other president."

While I applaud Mr. Perry for speaking out, his response is reactionary in nature. As we well know, after four years of Obama, reactions are what he thrives on because it means he can get a rise out of his opponents while remaining on offense.

It's time for his opponents to go on offense, which is what prompted me to fax this one page letter to Governor Perry's office after reading his statement:

January 17, 2013

From: Ben Barrack
To: Governor Rick Perry

RE: SANDY HOOK VS. FAST & FURIOUS

Governor Perry, it was nice to see your public statement that the President's exploitation of the Sandy Hook shootings 'disgusts' you. Thank you for making it.

It's now time to go on offense by contrasting this administration's urgency on gun control after SANDY HOOK with its stonewalling in OPERATION FAST & FURIOUS. We now know what that was about and the exploitation of the Sandy Hook shootings only further demonstrates it.

FAST & FURIOUS was about putting ASSAULT WEAPONS into the hands of Mexican drug cartels so that those guns could be used to murder people – including children – whose deaths could then be exploited for the same reason the Sandy Hook murders are being exploited. That purpose was and is to create the political climate for more gun control.

The problem was that FAST & FURIOUS blew up in the administration's face when whistleblowers came forward after the death of Brian Terry.

The Obama administration went to work exploiting Sandy Hook within minutes. On the day of the shootings, Rep. Jerrold Nadler said the president should 'exploit' them. Two years after F&F was exposed, Obama is still asserting Executive Privilege to prevent the truth from coming out.

The reason there was no urgency in FAST & FURIOUS was because it was the Obama administration's fault.

The Obama administration (DOJ / ATF) intentionally put THOUSANDS of assault weapons into the hands of bad guys whom they knew would use them to murder far more people than were murdered at Sandy Hook.

Shining a spotlight on FAST & FURIOUS as this administration exploits SANDY HOOK would put Obama on defense.

After all, his hero – Saul Alinsky – did say that “the ends justify almost any means”. He also dedicated his book to Lucifer.

There is a true leadership vacuum on the Republican side of the aisle in this country. All someone has to do is fill it without concern for the mainstream media's reaction. The first step is going on offense with the truth.

Regards,
Ben Barrack
Talk show host / 1400 KTEM
benbarrack@yahoo.com

Here is Perry's contact page. You can fax his office at 512-463-1849. There are also other fax numbers listed for members of his administration that might need to hear from you.

As Obama was politicizing speech in Newtown, a mass shooting was being prevented in San Antonio - with a Gun

On the same night that Barack Obama injected his gun control agenda into a speech at a memorial intended for the victims of the Newtown, CT school shootings, a gunman in San Antonio, TX was attempting another mass shooting in a local theater. The outcome was quite different than what happened in Aurora, CO - the site of another mass shooting inside a theater recently.

In this case, a gun was used successfully to prevent a mass shooting.

Via WOAI:

Two people are hospitalized after a gunman chased terrified restaurant patrons into the lobby of the Santikos Mayan 14 movie theater during a showing of "The Hobbit" last night, 1200 WOAI news reprots.

Police detectives and sheriff's investigators say the incident started in the China Garden Restaurant on Southwest Military Drive about 9 PM Sunday, when an employee of the restaurant walked in looking for a woman.

When the woman, who officials say is also a restaurant employee, wasn't there, the man pulled a gun and attempted to open fire in the restaurant but his weapon jammed.

"It started at the restaurant and then went into the parking lot and then into the movie theater," Deputy Lou Antu told 1200 WOAI news.

Investigators say some of the terrified restaurant patrons poured into the movie theater, and the gunman followed.

He opened fire, shooting one man in the chest, before Antu says an off duty sheriff's deputy who was working security at the theater shot him once.

"The officer involved, she took the appropriate action to try to keep everyone safe in the movie theater," Antu said.

The gunman and the patron are hospitalized.

Antu says the gunman never made it into the theater itself, thanks largely to the heroic work of the off duty deputy.

"She did what she felt she had to do," Antu said.  "I feel that she saved a lot of lives by taking the action she had to take."

During an appearance on MSNBC to discuss his controversial comments during an NFL Sunday Night Football halftime show (about the Jovan Belcher murder / suicide),  Bob Costas said the following about the Aurora, Colorado mass shooting inside a theater:

It demonstrates itself in the wild west, Dirty Harry mentality of people who actually believe that if a number of people were armed in the theater in Aurora, they would have been able to take down this nut job in body armor and military style artillery when in fact almost every policeman in the country would tell that you that would have only increased the tragedy and added to the carnage.

When Costas later appeared with Bill O'Reilly, the NBC sportscaster said that if he were in a theater and there was a mass shooter, he wouldn't want to have a gun.

Granted, the person who stopped the shooter inside a San Antonio movie theater lobby was an off-duty police officer but the issue here is the ability to neutralize someone with a gun, who is determined to kill innocent, unarmed civilians. Law-abiding citizens, properly trained in the use of a firearm, can be just as effective as an off-duty police officer in the same situation. Just ask Bob Costas. He has armed security at his disposal.

In Costas' case, he also told O'Reilly that he would not want a gun in such a situation. Perhaps that's because he travels with people around him who have guns.

Like Costas, Obama's speech occurred during an NFL Sunday Night football game and the network broke in to air it.

The irony was that as Obama was politicizing the recent mass shootings, another one was being averted in Texas by what the gun control nuts want banned.

Before planning to oust Boehner, Conservatives should look to Texas

There is a movement afoot to jettison John Boehner from the Speakership. At first blush, it seems incredibly attainable; it's that second blush that gives one a double-take. The idea, courtesy of Ned Ryun at Red State is quite simple in theory. In order to be re-elected as Speaker, Boehner needs to receive 218 votes. If 16 Republicans abstain, he only gets 217 and the House would be Speaker-less.

As Doug Ross points out, it may not be that simple:

My only fear about this idea is that House Democrats will join with the RINO establishment to keep the Weeper Speaker in power.

Actually, that reality may end up being why conservative Republicans choose not to implement Ryun's strategy. I'm not sure if that strategy has been tried on a national level but something very similar to it happened at the state level in Texas after the 2008 elections.

Up until that time, Rep. Tom Craddick (R-Midland) had been the Speaker. Then, in January of 2009, he was voted out and replaced by Joe Straus (R- San Antonio), a RINO / social liberal - despite getting a huge majority of Republican votes. How'd that happen? Democrats in the Texas House decided it was better to have a RINO in charge than a Speaker who was more conservative. Straus was elected by lobbying for - and getting - all of the Democrats to vote for him.

Via Tea Party 911:

Joe Straus, a Republican with poor conservative credentials, connived with 65 Democrats and 11 “moderate” Republicans to take over the speaker of the house for the 81st session in 2009, a betrayal of the other Republican members and the voters who elected them.  It is a well know story in political circles how Democrats were allegedly rewarded for their votes with prominent committee positions.  As a result, the Democrats were able to substantially block the conservative Republican agenda in the 81st legislature in Texas.

In short, even if 16 Republican Congressmen withhold their votes, they will only guarantee that Boehner doesn't get 218 Republican votes. If that scenario unfolded, Boehner could retain the Speakership by getting 217 Republican votes and just one Democrat vote. Why? Perhaps Democrats would prefer Boehner to someone like Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), whom Ryun suggests.

Say 30 Republicans abstain; it would only take 15 Democrats (likely blue dogs) to guarantee Boehner's job. What's more is that under such a scenario, Boehner would be even more beholden to the liberal agenda and would actually update his list of Republican House members who would deserve retribution for not towing the line.

That would be Obama-esque.

Video: Lubbock Judge warns of 'Civil War' if Obama re-elected

Prepare for your mouth to be agape at approximately the 1:15 mark.

Via My Fox Lubbock (h/t GWP):

Tea Party victory in Texas; Cruz Cruises past Dewhurst

It was supposed to be Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst's 'turn' in the Senate. Backed by Rick Perry and the Republican establishment, Dewhurst won a plurality of the vote in the primary but Ted Cruz was able to force a runoff two months later. That runoff was yesterday and the establishment lost.

Via Texas Tribune:

Defying all early expectations and upending long-standing conventional wisdom in Texas Republican politics, former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz handily won the Republican runoff for an open U.S. Senate seat Tuesday night.

He moves on to the general election against former state Rep. Paul Sadler, who defeated retired educator Grady Yarbrough in the Democratic runoff.

Cruz defeated Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst after a lengthy, contentious political battle in which Cruz painted a longtime statewide elected official backed by Gov. Rick Perry as a moderate.

“Tonight is a victory for the grass roots,” Cruz said Tuesday night. “It is a testament to Republican women, to Tea Party leaders and to grass-roots conservatives.”

In a short concession speech, Dewhurst said he was proud of the race he had run.

“We got beat up a little bit, but we never gave up,” Dewhurst said. “And we stand tall in knowing that we never compromised any of our values.”

Then, in a classic case of projection, Sadler actually attempted to charge that the Republican Party had been 'hijacked' and that he would seek to recruit Dewhurst supporters.

In a statement, Sadler made clear that he will fight for Dewhurst’s supporters ahead of the Nov. 6 general election.

“Tonight, I stand alone as the only nominee of a major political party in Texas because the Texas Republican Party has been hijacked by the Tea Party,” Sadler said in a statement.

Uh, not so much, Mr. Sadler. The Tea Party is desperately trying to bring the Republican Party back from the abyss and it is YOUR party that has been hijacked - by Communists.

Then again, commies lie.

Here's a montage of the campaign between Cruz and Dewhurst. Make no mistake. If Cruz defeats Sadler in November, he will be a MAJOR upgrade to Kay Bailey Hutchison. To be fair, Dewhurst would have been as well.

One last point. Many of Dewhurst's problems stemmed from the Kabuki theater that took place during last year's special legislative session. It was obvious that the establishment in both the State House and Senate, which Dewhurst led, didn't want to pass the tough Sanctuary Cities Bill or the TSA anti-groping bill (brought up by Cruz in the video below). House Speaker Joe Straus and Dewhurst attempted to point fingers at the other house.

Each should have been held solely responsible, not just equally responsible, for not getting those bills passed. Last night, Dewhurst was held accountable, in part, for his Special Session performance.

Video Outrage: EPA Official channels ancient Romans; advocates Crucifying Oil Companies

This video is from 2010 and it validates much of what we already know about the bureaucratic minions that operate inside the Obama administration but an extremely crude and graphic metaphor is used here by EPA Region VI Administrator Al Armendariz. While admitting that his analogy is "crude," Armendariz proceeds to repeat it here.

In this video, this pathetic EPA bureaucrat compares what he does to what the Romans did when they went into a town or village; they randomly captured five people and crucified them so that the rest of the town would fall in line.

Alinsky tactics on steroids. Perhaps a Nazi metaphor that describes what Armendariz is advocating is in order.



Since that video was released, Armendariz has made a feeble attempt at an apology.

Via the Washington Times:

A top official at the Environmental Protection Agency has apologized after being captured on video saying his agency’s method of enforcing oil and gas regulations was to find a few bad actors to “crucify” and hold up as examples.

“I apologize to those I have offended and regret my poor choice of words,” Region 6 EPA Administrator Al Armendariz said in a statement first provided to the Daily Caller. “It was an offensive and inaccurate way to portray our efforts to address potential violations of our nation’s environmental laws. I am and have always been committed to fair and vigorous enforcement of those laws.”

That was from the heart, wasn't it?

h/t Weasel Zippers 

Video Awesomeness: Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz on Operation Fast and Furious

There are four Republican Senatorial candidates vying for the seat of outgoing Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. At this point, it appears to be a two man race between Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, whose rhetoric is much more conservative than his record and Ted Cruz, a Tea Party favorite. Cruz has a legitimate shot, despite Dewhurst's establishment connections.

If you're outraged by the Fast and Furious scandal, you've got to see this ad from Ted Cruz for Senate:

Ted Cruz Fast and Furious page.

Houston, TX: Eagle Forum taking on Fethullah Gulen Charter schools

Perhaps the most dangerous Islamist in America - Fethullah Gulen - has watched as Harmony charter schools - modeled after his teachings - have sprung up all over the world, many in the United States. One particular hotbed for those schools is Houston, TX.

Vice President of Texas' Eagle Forum, MerryLynn Gerstenschlager is calling for legislation that will require all charter schools to be operated by U.S. citizens exclusively.

Via Houston Chronicle:

With 36 campuses, Harmony has become the state’s largest charter school system.

“Thousands of American children are becoming sympathetic to the Turkish way of life,” MerryLynn Gerstenschlager told the House Public Education Committee last week.

She is vice president of the Eagle Forum, which is concerned about the influence of Turkish billionaire Fethullah Gulen, whom she cast as the driving force behind Harmony schools.

Gulen lives in Pennsylvania but controls Turkey TV stations and newspapers, Gerstenschlager told the committee. She also views him as someone who desires to turn Turkish government into an Islamist system.

“If Gulen’s control can reach across the seas to Turkey, how much easier would it be for him to ask allegiance from the impressionable children educated in Turkish charter schools within our borders?” she asked.

Amazingly, state lawmakers seem to be oblivious to this very real threat.

House Public Education Committee members did not share the Eagle Forum’s concerns about Harmony charter schools.

Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston, says she has “a large Turkish community in my district and several Harmony schools in my district. I think they are fabulous. I don’t think they teach religion.”

It ain't just Democrats who don't get it:

Rep. Mark Shelton, R-Fort Worth, told Gerstenschlager the Harmony charter school in his district is immensely popular.

“They are lining up trying to get into that school. Parents are thrilled. I am just not hearing anyone saying that there’s some problem in the school related to the issues you are talking about,” the physician-lawmaker told her.

 She repeated her standard refrain: “They are learning Turkish culture, and I believe these impressionable young children will become sympathetic to Turkey.”

A simple search of Fethullah Gulen will reveal why these schools are so dangerous. Yet, politicians are out to lunch on the issue. Last year, the Texas state legislature passed a resolution, without objection, that honored Gulen.

Read it all.

h/t DG

Video: Texas Governor went after Turkey in Presidential Debate, how about in his own State?

In one of Rick Perry's last debates, he publicly singled out Turkey for its increasingly Islamist government. This tells us that he must have a significant understanding of the dynamics behind what makes that government work. One of those dynamics is a Turkish imam named Fethullah Gulen. However, Gulen lives in the Untied States and his schools have a significant presence across the United States, to include Texas.

As the video points out, public tax dollars have been used to build a Gulen charter school in Perry's backyard - Austin, TX. The Harmony School of Political Science and Journalism has been built to "influence the next generation of politicians, voters, and news writers."

Must-see video:



h/t Donna

Appeals Court Upholds Texas Ultrasound Law

In a classic example of how left-wing, activist judges attempt to legislate from the bench, federal district Judge Sam Sparks issued an injunction on Texas' Sonogram Law just two days before it was supposed to take effect. The law requires abortuaries to give pregnant women the option of viewing an ultrasound before going through with the abortion.

As if that wasn't absurd enough, the Texas state law was being challenged by an entity from another state - New York. That state's Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) sought the injunction that Sparks ultimately granted.

Now, thanks to a federal appeals court, Judge Sparks has essentially been told to go pound sand.

Via LifeNews:

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is pro-life, quickly filed an appeal on the same day that the lower court released the injunction with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Last Tuesday, a federal three-judge panel heard arguments to determine whether to lift the injunction. The panel was critical of the grounds for the injunction and Jonathan Mitchell, Solicitor General, argued for the law before the panel.  Mitchell explained that the level of scrutiny and the arguments used to rule the law as unconstitutional — and thus block the law from going into effect — were misapplied and needed to be overturned.

Chief Judge Edith Jones, of the three-judge panel, asked pro-abortion attorneys how medical sonogram imaging, and a factual description of that image could be viewed as radical or against the health of women.

Today, the court ruled the state can enforce the law and said Judge Sparks was wrong to rule that abortion practitioners would likely win their case in court.

Why would a federal judge in Texas rule against a law passed by his state because of objections from an entity in another state that has NO business telling Texas how to run its state?

When Newt talks about holding Judges accountable, Sam Sparks is a perfect example.

The degree to which Sparks and CRR were willing to go reveals something else too. Pro-abortionists know the law will lead to less abortions.

Sparks did with this bill what federal Judge Susan Bolton did to Arizona's immigration law (SB 1070), likely for the same reason. Fear that it would work and that the insane leftist agenda would take a hit.

h/t Weasel Zippers

Honor Killing in a Santa Suit?

There's a very tried and true rule in journalism. When writing a story, the meat should always come in the headline and first paragraph. If the reader wants more detail, he will continue reading. Apparently, this rule doesn't apply when the story is about a Muslim who dresses in a Santa suit and kills his daughter because she's dating a non-Muslim man.

Here is the headline and first three paragraphs appeared in the Dallas Morning News via Jihad Watch:

Neighbors horrified at news of family’s slayings in Grapevine

GRAPEVINE — Aziz Yazdanpanah seemed to be losing control of his life in recent months — his wife left him, his house was in foreclosure, and his 19-year-old daughter was dating a young man he didn’t like.

Even so, the 58-year-old former real estate agent from Colleyville seemed to be holding it together. Neighbors say he would smile and wave as he drove through his middle-class neighborhood. Recently, he was seen raking leaves in his yard.

“He was very friendly, a very good neighbor,” said Carrie Stewart, who lives across the street. “He was out here often doing yard work and he even watched our house for us when we went to Colorado.”

Suggested alternate headline and first three paragraphs...

Muslim Male dresses as Santa Claus, slays family on Christmas morning 

GRAPEVINE - Aziz Yazdanpanah, a Muslim, who reportedly objected to his daughter's boyfriend, was found dead along with his daughter, Nona, and six others on Christmas morning in the home where Yazdanpanah's estranged wife was living. 

An investigation into the motive is ongoing in the apparent murder / suicide but according to a classmate of Nona, the dating habits of his daughter were a source of great distress for Yazdanpanah. 

“She couldn’t date at all until she was a certain age, but when he was going to let her date she couldn’t date anyone outside of their race or religion,” Laci Reed, 18, said.

Reading the piece in the Dallas Morning News, one is almost left with the impression that the real victim was the murderer, who had fallen on hard times, and not his young daughter, who had her whole life in front of her.

Oh, and the police officer at the scene, Lt. Todd Dearing, said the motive wasn't important.

h/t GWP

Shocker: Tough Alabama Immigration Law already Working

I hope Mr. Rick Perry is taking notice because what a variation of he avoided pushing through his state Legislature in a Special Session this past June, got through Alabama's Legislature (and a Federal Judge); and it's working. Schools there are seeing a Hispanic students disappearing, presumably because those students, their parents, or both are in the country illegally. Meanwhile, Rick Perry signed a Bill that granted in-state tuition to illegal aliens and declared anyone who disagreed with such a bill is without 'a heart.'

Via AP/The Blaze:

Hispanic students have started vanishing from Alabama public schools in the wake of a court ruling that upheld the state’s tough new law cracking down on illegal immigration.

Education officials say scores of immigrant families have withdrawn their children from classes or kept them home this week, afraid that sending the kids to school would draw attention from authorities.

There are no precise statewide numbers. But several districts with large immigrant enrollments — from small towns to large urban districts — reported a sudden exodus of children from Hispanic families, some of whom told officials they would leave the state to avoid trouble with the law, which requires schools to check students’ immigration status.

As far as I can tell, there are only two reasons why these children would be pulled out of school.

1.) Their parents have something to hide
2.) Their parents are the victims of fear-mongering from the left

In either case, the new law is already causing people to flee the state.

Local and state officials are pleading with immigrant families to keep their children enrolled. The law does not ban anyone from school, they say, and neither students nor parents will be arrested for trying to get an education.

But so far, many Spanish-speaking families aren’t waiting around to see what happens.

A school worker in Albertville — a community with a large poultry industry that employs many Hispanic workers — said Friday many families might leave town over the weekend for other states. About 22 percent of the community’s 4,200 students are Hispanic.

“I met a Hispanic mother in the hallway at our community learning center this morning, where enrollment and withdrawal happens. She looked at me with tears in her eyes. I asked, ‘Are you leaving?‘ She said ’Yes,’ and hugged me, crying,” said the worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not an authorized spokeswoman.

I'm sorry but I have an extremely hard time believing that this new law would cause LEGAL residents in the US to flee the state.

Then again, they can always head over to Texas. We've got in-state college tuition available for them.

h/t The Blaze

Breaking: Illegal Aliens to Flee Alabama in Droves

The good news is that Alabama can now implement the most important parts of its tough immigration law. The bad news is it's not a border state. Last year, Arizona passed SB 1070, only to have the toughest aspects of its immigration law struck down by a federal judge. In Texas, a tough sanctuary cities bill died in the legislature, in part, because two wealthy businessmen - grocery store magnate Charles Butt and developer Bob Perry - threatened to withhold campaign contributions to the Republican Party. Alabama passed what should have been passed in Texas and US District Judge Sharon Blackburn did what US District Judge Susan Bolton should have done relative to Arizona's law; she allowed the key parts to remain in effect.

Via POLITICO:

A federal judge gave a green light for Alabama to enforce some of the most controversial parts of its toughest-in-the-nation immigration law, ruling that certain measures do not violate federal law.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn ruled that Alabama can enforce the law’s requirements for schools to verify students’ immigration status and for police to determine citizenship and status of those they stop, detain or arrest. Police are allowed to arrest anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant during a routine traffic stop, under the law.

In a 115-page opinion, Blackburn wrote that “the United States has not met the requirements for a preliminary injunction” for several of the measures the Justice Department had argued violated the Constitution and usurped the federal government’s authority to set immigration policy.

But Blackburn granted the Obama administration’s request to block certain portions of the law until she makes a final ruling. Those sections include provisions making it a crime to transport or harbor an illegal immigrant, or for an illegal immigrant to look for or perform work. Blackburn also blocked parts of the law that would allow discrimination lawsuits against companies that hire illegal immigrants when they discharge or fail to hire a U.S. citizen and forbid employers from claiming as business tax deductions wages paid to illegal immigrants.

Once again, the Obama administration comes down on the side of defending illegal behavior. In the minds of Eric Holder's Justice Department, it's apparently not a crime to harbor an illegal alien. Uh, Mr. Holder, it's called being an accomplice.

All things being equal, this is good news.

h/t Weasel ZIppers