Politically Correct Cartoons

Do Louisiana lawmakers really think the Declaration of Independence is racist and sexist?

Days before the 1983 gubernatorial election in Louisiana, Democrat Edwin Edwards infamously declared that “the only way I can lose this election is if I’m caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy.”
Edwards was elected governor that year – demonstrating the low bar Democrats must hurdle to hold public office in the Bayou State.
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Edwards may have been a scoundrel (not to mention a convicted felon) but at least he didn’t slander our Founding Fathers or the Declaration of Independence.
Rep. Barbara Norton managed to do both during a bizarre May 25^th rant on the floor of the Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane as they say in Cajun Country.
“All men are not created equal,” the Gentle Lady from Shreveport ranted. “We’re teaching them a lie.”
Rep. Norton was fired up hotter than a bottle of Tabasco from Avery Island.
Lawmakers had been asked to consider a bill authored by Republican Rep. Valarie Hodges that would have required children in grades four, five and six to recite portions of the Declaration of Independence.
“I want students to understand that the Declaration of Independence is the cornerstone of our republic – and what gives us liberty,” Rep. Hodges told me. “I want them to not just memorize it – but to understand what that document did – it changed the course of history.”
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A noble cause indeed – to teach young Americans that they live in a most exceptional nation.
“It’s important that we fight for these values,” she told me. “The future of our republic depends on the next generation – whether or not they are prepared for citizenship.”
And as my Fox News colleague Jesse Watters demonstrates on a weekly basis in his “Watter’s World” segment – our public school system is doing a subpar job of teaching kids what it means to be an American.
“The Left is pushing against this very hard – trying to rewrite history,” she said. “Instead of believing that America is an exceptional nation – there are some radicals who want to rewrite history and teach our children the opposite of what is truth.”
And that brings me back to Rep. Norton – railing on about the Declaration of Independence.
“We’re teaching them a lie,” she declared.
“When I think back in 1776 July 4^th – African Americans were slaves and for you to bring a bill to request that our children will recite the Declaration – I think it’s a little bit unfair to us to ask those children to recite something that is not true,” she said.
House Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger III (another Democrat) took issue with the “All men are created equal” portion – and said it needed to be taught with historical context.
“Men and women were not seen as equals at that time nor were blacks considered to be men that were equal to others,” he said during a committee hearing.
Rep. Hodges was dumbfounded by the hostility.
“I feel sadness that that level of hatred was displayed against the Founding Fathers and the documents that give us the ability as women and black people and Caucasians to run for office,” she said. “The lack of understanding to me is saddening and frightening.”
Hodges ended up pulling her bill – under pressure from lawmakers and a mountain of amendments.
Democrats don’t believe we should teach young Americans that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. And they sure don’t want them to pursue happiness.
That, boys and girls, is what we call a self-evident truth.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. His latest book is "God Less America: Real Stories From the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values." Follow Todd on Twitter@ToddStarnes and find him on Facebook.

DOJ fights federal judge's order for lawyers to attend ethics training

The Justice Department moved Tuesday to fight a federal judge’s order that its lawyers undergo mandatory ethics training, digging in after the DOJ was accused of misleading the courts over President Obama's immigration executive actions. 
In filings Tuesday, the department said the order would "far exceed the bounds of appropriate remedies" and would cost the department millions. 
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, of Texas, had issued the order earlier this month, after alleging DOJ attorneys misled him about the implementation of Obama’s executive orders on illegal immigrants.
Attorneys had told Hanen that a key component – an expansion of a 2012 program to protect illegal immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the U.S. as children – hadn’t been implemented. But officials later revealed they had given more than 108,000 people three-year reprieves from deportation under the expanded rules, as well as work permits.
Hanen blocked Obama's actions and the case is now before the Supreme Court. 
Hanen’s scathing order filed on May 19 accused the DOJ of a “calculated plan of unethical conduct.” He ordered that all DOJ lawyers attend a yearly ethics course. He also ordered the department to turn over the names of those who received the reprieves.
"Such conduct is certainly not worthy of any department whose name includes the word 'Justice,'" Hanen said.
The Department of Justice responded in the court filing Tuesday, saying that it "emphatically" disagrees with the judge’s ruling, claiming that none of its lawyers intended to deceive. The filing requests Hanen’s order be put on hold so federal lawyers can review.
In Tuesday’s filing, the DOJ estimated that the ethics training mandated would cost upwards of $7.8 million.
"The sanctions ordered by the Court far exceed the bounds of appropriate remedies for what this Court concluded were intentional misrepresentations, a conclusion that was reached without proper procedural protections and that lacks sufficient evidentiary support," lawyers for the department said.
“Compounding matters, the sanctions imposed by this Court exceed the scope of its authority and unjustifiably impose irreparable injury on the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and thousands of innocent third parties,” the filing said.
The department also argued the order to turn over the list of those who were given reprieves would undermine trust in the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to maintain the confidentiality of personal information, which it said was vital to its mission.
“The Department emphatically disagrees with the sanctions orders and will seek review of this matter in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals," a Department of Justice spokesman said in a statement.

Lawyers for Clinton aide block questioning on IT specialist who set up server

What are they trying to hide?

Lawyers for senior Hillary Clinton aide Cheryl Mills, during a nearly five-hour deposition last week in Washington, repeatedly objected to questions about IT specialist Bryan Pagliano’s role in setting up the former secretary of state’s private server.
According to a transcript of the deposition with watchdog group Judicial Watch released on Tuesday, Mills attorney Beth Wilkinson – as well as Obama administration lawyers – objected to the line of questioning about Pagliano, who has emerged as a central figure in the FBI's ongoing criminal probe of Clinton's email practices. 
“I'm going to instruct her not to answer. It's a legal question,” Wilkinson responded, when asked by Judicial Watch whether Pagliano was an “agent of the Clintons” when the server was set up. 
This was a pattern repeated throughout the deposition by the seven lawyers for Mills -- including four attorneys representing the State and Justice departments, as well as her personal representatives.
Asked direct questions about when Mills spoke with Pagliano, Mills' lawyer also objected. 
In other exchanges relating to the server's set-up, Mills said she did not know how to answer either.
"I don't know how to answer your question because I don't know the time period,” Mills said, when asked when she spoke with Pagliano. She did clarify that she met him in 2008 during Clinton's first presidential campaign. Mills served as Clinton’s chief of staff at the State Department and her counsel. 
Pagliano, a former State Department employee, cut an immunity deal last fall with the Justice Department amid the FBI probe. He was recently described to Fox News by an intelligence source as a "devastating witness."  
Mills had recently gone to court to make sure that recordings of this past Friday’s deposition were not released. The request was granted by the court, though Judicial Watch was still able to release the transcript.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told Fox News on Tuesday that they have “more information than we did before the deposition despite difficult questioning.”
He added, “Mills’ attorneys directed her not to discuss conversations with Pagliano.” 
Mills also testified under oath that the server existed before Clinton became secretary of state in 2009.
“President Clinton had established a server for the purposes of his own staff office, and … her email was subsequently put on that,” Mills said, adding that she learned about the server’s origin after the fact.

Getting 'nervous'? Clinton plans California campaign spree as Sanders eyes upset

Hillary Clinton is packing her campaign schedule with new stops across California ahead of next week’s delegate-rich primary, in an apparent bid to forestall a Bernie Sanders win as her rival climbs in the polls and barnstorms the state in pursuit of a dramatic upset.
The campaign hastily scrapped a planned New Jersey stop later in the week, and instead announced the Democratic presidential front-runner will camp out in California from Thursday through Monday, right up until the June 7 primary.
In a boost ahead of her West Coast swing, Clinton also snagged the endorsement Tuesday of California Gov. Jerry Brown, who in an “open letter” said Clinton represents “the only path forward to win the presidency and stop the dangerous candidacy of Donald Trump.”
He wrote, “Hillary Clinton has convincingly made the case that she knows how to get things done and has the tenacity and skill to advance the Democratic agenda.”
The developments come amid signs that the campaign-finale contest could be close. A recent poll, by the Public Policy Institute of California, showed Clinton’s lead in the state narrowing from double digits to just 2 points. Sanders, meanwhile, has been crisscrossing California for days and on Monday boldly predicted a victory in the Golden State, where 475 pledged delegates are at stake.
“She’s getting very nervous lately,” Sanders claimed of Clinton.  

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Clinton does not have to be nervous about whether she’ll effectively secure the nomination by June 7 – she’s just 71 delegates shy of the 2,383 needed to clinch, and is assured of crossing that threshold by next Tuesday night. Six states, including California and New Jersey, are voting on Tuesday, the last major primary election day.
But she wants to avoid a high-profile loss in the Democratic stronghold, at a time when she's trying to unify the party. A Sanders upset victory could energize the Vermont senator’s vows to take his fight all the way to the convention.
Speaking Monday in Oakland, Calif., Sanders insisted the race will not be over next Tuesday. He again vowed to keep working to persuade so-called superdelegates – party insiders and officials free to support any candidate – to cross over to his side in the weeks ahead. (While Clinton is sure to exceed the 2,383-delegate threshold on Tuesday, Sanders' campaign for weeks has questioned whether her superdelegate support should count toward that tally.) 
On Tuesday, Sanders was continuing his extended swing through California with stops in Emeryville, Santa Cruz and Monterey.
Clinton has not revealed exact details on where she’ll be campaigning when she travels from New Jersey to California later in the week.
Her attention to New Jersey in recent days may reflect the campaign’s back-up plan in case California is tight. Clinton aides recently told Fox News they're hoping for an overwhelming win in New Jersey‎ on June 7, which could possibly seal the nomination for Clinton before the polls even close in California.
"If things go our way in New Jersey," one senior Clinton official said, "we could wrap up the nomination and the rest of the country will already be asleep before the results are even final in California."
Sanders aides told Fox News they plan to spend most of their time in California in the lead-up to Tuesday and feel they are closing strong in the nation's most populous state.
"We feel it's an important state," Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs told Fox News. "And we plan to campaign hard there and turn these huge crowds and momentum into a big win."

List of veterans groups receiving Trump fundraiser donations

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday released a list of veterans groups that received money from a fundraiser the billionaire held in late January.
The groups and the amount given to each are as follows, according to a list from the Trump campaign: 
22Kill -- $200,000
Achilles International Inc. -- $200,000
American Hero Adventures -- $100,000
Americans for Equal Living -- $100,000

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America's Vetdogs - The Veterans K9 Corps Inc. -- $75,000
AMVETS -- $75,000
Armed Services YMCA of the USA -- $75,000
Bob Woodruff Family Foundation Inc. -- $75,000
Central Iowa Shelter and Services -- $100,000
Connected Warriors Inc. -- $75,000
Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust -- $115,000
Fisher House Foundation -- $115,000
Folds of Honor Foundation -- $200,000
Foundation for American Veterans -- $75,000
Freedom Alliance -- $75,000
Green Beret Foundation -- $350,000
Hire Heroes USA -- $75,000
Homes for Our Troops -- $50,000
Honoring America's Warriors -- $100,000
Hope for the Warriors -- $65,000
Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund -- $175,000
K9s for Warriors -- $50,000
Liberty House -- $100,000
Marine Corps- Law Enforcement Foundation --  $1,100,000
Navy Seal Foundation -- $465,000
Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society -- $75,000
New Englands Wounded Veterans Inc. -- $75,000
Operation Homefront -- $65,000
Partners for Patriots -- $100,000
Project for Patriots -- $100,000 (pending) 
Puppy Jake Foundation -- $100,000
Racing for Heroes Inc. -- $200,000
Support Siouxland Soldiers -- $100,000
Task Force Dagger Foundation -- $50,000
The Mission Continues -- $75,000
The National Military Family Association Inc. -- $75,000
Veterans Airlift Command -- $100,000
Veterans Count 25,000 Veterans-In-Command Inc. -- $150,000
Vietnam Veterans Workshop Inc. -- $75,000
Warriors for Freedom Foundation -- $50,000
Total: $5,600,000

VA Cartoons

Holder: Snowden did 'public service,' but should still be punished

Edward Snowden performed a "public service" in stoking a national debate about secret domestic surveillance programs, but he should still return to the U.S. to stand trial, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a podcast released on Monday.
As a National Security Agency contractor, Snowden leaked classified details in 2013 of the U.S. government's warrantless surveillance of its citizens before fleeing the country. He now lives in Russia and faces U.S. charges that could land him in prison for up to 30 years.
In a podcast interview with CNN political commentator David Axelrod, Holder said that Snowden had grown concerned that the domestic spying programs weren't providing a "substantial" return of useful intelligence even before even before he revealed the secrets.
Axelrod is a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, while Holder served as attorney general from 2009 to 2015.
"We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate we engaged in and by the changes that we made," Holder said. "Now, I would say doing what he did in the way he did it was inappropriate and illegal."
Holder said Snowden's leaks harmed American interests abroad and put intelligence assets at risk.
"He's got to make a decision," Holder said of Snowden. "He's broken the law. In my view, he needs to get lawyers, come on back and decide what he wants to do — go to trial, try to cut a deal."
He said Snowden should have to face consequences for his actions, including prison time.
"But in deciding what an appropriate sentence should be, a judge could take into account the usefulness of having that national debate," Holder added.
Snowden has repeatedly said he would be willing to return to the United States if the federal government would provide him a fair trial. However, Snowden says he is concerned that under federal espionage laws he would not allow him to present a whistleblower defense, arguing in court he acted in the public interest.

Senate report slams VA watchdog for 'systemic' failures in probe of Wisconsin hospital

A Senate committee's report into overprescription of powerful painkilling drugs at a Wisconsin VA hospital slammed the agency's inspector general's office for discounting key evidence, narrowing its inquiry and failing to make its report on the matter public. 
The report by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which will be released Tuesday and was first obtained by USA Today, says the VA watchdog's investigation into the Tomah (Wis.) VA Medical Center was "perhaps the greatest failure to identify and prevent the tragedies at the Tomah VAMC."
According to the report, the Inspector General's office began investigating claims that opiates were being overpresecribed to Tomah patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2011.
The investigation, led by physician Allan Mallinger, lasted until 2014, but failed to examine whether the opiates were being prescribed in dangerous combinations with other drugs, nor whether employees felt threatened with retaliation if they raised concerns.
The watchdog's report, made public last year, failed to find that the Tomah VAMC's chief of staff, Dr. David Houlihan, and nurse practitioner Deborah Frasher, had committed any wrongdoing, though "potentially serious concerns" were raised about the high level of opiates prescribed.
Instead of making the report public, the inspector general's office briefed local VA officials and closed the case. Assistant Inspector General for Healthcare Inspections John Daigh, who made the decision to keep the report secret, told Senate investigators he could not "publish reports that repeat salacious allegations that I can’t support."
The following year, the VA opened its own investigation after Marine Corps veteran, Jason Simcakoski, died at age 35 of "mixed drug toxicity". It found that Houlihan and Frasher had failed to meet the standard of care in the vast majority of cases, and removed them from their positions at the Tomah facility. 
"In just three months, the VA investigated and substantiated a majority of the allegations that the VA OIG could not substantiate after several years," the Senate committee's report stated. 
"The reasons the problems were allowed to fester for so many years is because ...  for whatever reason, for years, the inspector general lacked the independence and had lost the sense of what its true mission was, which is being the transparent watchdog of VA system," said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the committee chair.

GOP convention no-shows threaten to undercut Trump unity push

Even as Donald Trump and Republican Party bosses diligently work Capitol Hill in hopes of bringing the party together after a fractious presidential primary, convention planners could still be looking at a block of empty seats for the July convention.
A growing roster of senior GOP figures – from governors to senators to, most notably, nearly every living GOP presidential nominee – is vowing to skip the convention in Cleveland, despite the candidate starting to win over the rank-and-file.
In an unconventional election season where Trump has capitalized on an anti-establishment fervor, the case can be made that Trump does not need the blessing of party elders, or their attendance.
“Trump is a master entertainer and more than likely going to put together a convention program that attempts to highlight his strengths and sideline some of the major absences,” Republican strategist Ron Bonjean told FoxNews.com.
Still, since wrapping up the nomination, Trump and his surrogates have been regularly meeting with Hill Republicans, showing at least an effort to pursue party unity – a message that high-profile absences in Cleveland could undercut.
Trump hit the unity theme again Sunday night, as he responded to the latest prediction that an independent candidate would soon enter the race. On Twitter, Trump warned, “if the GOP can't control their own, then they are not a party.”

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Yet Trump’s contemporaries will be nowhere near Cleveland.
Of all the living Republican presidential nominees and former presidents, only Bob Dole is expected to attend – and even then, only “briefly,” for the purpose of catching a luncheon hosted by his law firm, a source told Fox News earlier this month.
Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush have said they will not attend, as have 2008 nominee John McCain and 2012 nominee Mitt Romney. Former 2016 White House candidate Jeb Bush also is expected to skip.
Of them, Romney is working most actively against Trump, having delivered a major address attacking his candidacy and frequently sparring with the now-presumptive nominee on Twitter. He also reportedly has been the focus of efforts to recruit an independent candidate, though so far to no avail.
Others claim to be skipping in order to focus on their own election battles – some of those potentially made more challenging by Trump’s primary success.
McCain seemingly counts himself among that group. The Arizona senator is facing a tough re-election fight in a state with a heavy Hispanic population, and has said Trump complicates his race.
New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte also has said she will not be attending the convention, citing a tough re-election battle.
"Unlikely," Ayotte told CNN. "I've got a lot of work to do in New Hampshire, I have my own re-election and I'm going to be focusing on my voters in New Hampshire."
Other lawmakers in tight election battles who do not plan to be in Cleveland include: North Carolina’s Richard Burr, Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Kansas’ Jerry Moran, Missouri’s Roy Blunt, and Illinois’ Mark Kirk, according to McClatchyDC.
FoxNews.com reached out as well to Republican governors for an attendance tally.
Most of those RSVPs remain outstanding, but representatives for Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Wyoming Gov. Matthew Mead told FoxNews.com they would not be in Cleveland. Mead’s spokesman cited a busy summer as the reason for the governor not making it.
No-shows could be more common for lawmakers in the House, where a faction remains skeptical of Trump’s candidacy. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, told The Hill about 10 other conservatives are planning not to attend.
Many lawmakers and their staff remain tight-lipped about whether they’re attending, and their rationale.
Asked for comment on whether Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., would show up, a representative for the senator sent FoxNews.com a Boston Globe article in which Flake is quoted as saying, “I’ve got other things to do.” Meanwhile, a rep for South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley linked to a YouTube video in which the governor said she was undecided on whether to go.
This may be because Republicans are still evaluating how to deal with Trump’s victory.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, for one, is rumored to be close to endorsing the billionaire, though he hasn’t yet. Now that Trump has reached the necessary 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination, according to the latest AP tally, more top GOP lawmakers could feel pressured to step in line.
Marco Rubio, once an outspoken Trump rival who sold #NeverTrump merchandise on his website, said Sunday he will get behind the presumptive nominee.
“I want to be helpful,” the Florida senator said on CNN's "State of the Union."
The big unknown is whether Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who suspended his campaign in early May, will similarly get on board.
While the absence of major figures at the convention could damage the party’s ability to present a united front against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, some argue that Trump will be able to manage the dissension in the ranks.
“The absences won’t hurt Trump’s ability to unite the party,” Bonjean said, “but he must keep his focus now on Hillary Clinton and avoid getting into fights with other Republicans that may not agree with his pending nomination.”
It is not unheard of for Republicans, especially those in tight re-election races, to skip the national convention when political waters look choppy.
In 2008, several top Republicans chose to skip. Some were due to urgent state issues -- like then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger grappling with a budget stalemate or Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal dealing with Hurricane Gustav. Gustav even forced then-President Bush not to attend, making him the first sitting president since Lyndon Johnson not to attend his party’s convention. Instead, he delivered his address by satellite hookup from the White House.
Sens. Pat Roberts, of Kansas; Susan Collins, of Maine; Gordon Smith, of Oregon; and Elizabeth Dole, of North Carolina, also stayed home from the GOP convention in order to campaign. At that time, Bush’s approval ratings were hovering around 30 percent.
This was a departure, however, from the 2000 convention where various interest groups in the party all came together behind their candidate with a single-minded determination to take back the White House. It didn't hurt that Bush was leading in the polls and had seen his last primary challengers fade away months before.
At that convention, there were no reports of prominent Republicans choosing not to attend.
Adam Shaw is a Politics Reporter for FoxNews.com. He can be reached here or on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.