UC Irvine reverses American flag ban

The Star-Spangled Banner will once again wave at the University of California, Irvine, after student government leaders nixed a bid to ban the American flag from a campus lobby.
Members of the executive cabinet of the Associated Students of UC Irvine met Saturday in an emergency session to reverse the flag ban.
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“Our campus is patriotic and proud,” student government President Reza Zomorrodian told me. “We did something right for our campus.”
Zomorrodian, said he was furious that a handful of student legislators pushed through the ban.
“Our campus stands with the flag,” he said.
On March 3, student legislator Matthew Guevara authored a bill to remove the American flag, along with all other flags, from the lobby of a campus building housing their offices. Click here to read my original column.
Guevara said he wanted to make the university a more “culturally inclusive” place by banning Old Glory.
“Designing a culturally inclusive space aims to remove barriers that create undue effort and separation by planning and designing spaces that enable everyone to participate equally and confidentially,” read the resolution.
The student government’s decision created a firestorm of national outrage from alumni, current students and the university’s administration.
“This misguided decision was not endorsed or supported in any way by the campus leadership, the University of California, or the broader student body,” read a statement posted online by the university. “The views of a handful of students passing a resolution do not represent the opinions of the nearly 30,000 students on this campus, and have no influence on the policies and practices of the university.”
They also tweeted a photograph showing the Stars & Stripes were still posted at the taxpayer-funded university.
As for the student government association’s flag, that will be rehoused on Monday, Zomorrodian said.
Guevara and his band of cohorts could not be reached for comment. They aren’t talking publicly and Zomorrodian said he hasn’t been able to locate them. But when he does - he plans on giving them an earful, he said.
Zomorrodian said he was especially offended that they banned the flag because he is a first generation American.
“That’s why the flag is special to me,” he said. “I was born here. My parents came here as immigrants.”
That makes him proud to be an American, and to stand up for the flag.
“This country has been great to our family,” he said.
The university’s administration should also be commended for their swift condemnation of the flag ban. It’s refreshing to see there are still educators who still love the land of the free, the home of the brave.
If nothing else, this episode has shown the nation that the University of California, Irvine has hundreds, if not thousands, of young men and women who love our nation.
I was especially pleased to hear that a member of the university’s ROTC volunteered to stand guard over Old Glory — just in case someone tried to snatch it in the dark of night.
God bless America, friends.

  Matthew Guevara Idiot of the Year.

Ex-Iranian hostages agree with Bibi: Tehran can't be trusted

American Tied Up and in Blindfold.

They dealt with the Iranian regime first-hand more than three decades ago, when it was founded in an act of war against the U.S., and several survivors of the hostage crisis say the idea of the U.S. negotiating with an unrepentant Tehran makes their blood boil.
For 444 days, the 52 Americans were held prisoner in the U.S. Embassy by the student revolutionaries that would help usher in the hard-line Islamic theocracy that remains in place today. Many of the hostage takers and guards held key roles in the Iranian government then and continue in important positions today.
“I think it’s very naive because the Iranians talk out both sides of their mouth,” said Clair Cortland Barnes, 69, of Leland, N.C, who was a 34-year-old communications officer at the time he was taken hostage. “Their actions betray their conversations. Their conversations say one thing and then they do something else.'
“They have an agenda that is to wipe out Israel and take over America,” he added.

“I think it’s very naive because the Iranians talk out both sides of their mouth.”- Clair Cortland Barnes, former Iranian hostage

The U.S., along with the other four permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- Russia, China, United Kingdom and France -- as well as Germany,  are negotiating a deal that could end international sanctions against Iran in return for assurances it will not pursue nuclear weapons. Iran’s history of disguising its pursuit of nuclear weapons, as well as its rhetoric against the U.S., Israel and the West in general, make any deal that comes from the talks suspect, said hostages.
Barnes' sentiment was shared by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who in a speech to the U.S. Congress that he delivered against the wishes of the Obama administration, characterized Iran as the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and said the regime has "proven time and again that it cannot be trusted."
“Iran’s regime poses a great threat not only to Israel, but also to the peace of the entire world,” railed Netanyahu, who also said he does not "believe that Iran’s radical regime will change for the better after this deal.”
David Roeder, a former U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who was attached to the U.S. Embassy when it was overrun by students seeking to overthrow the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran, said the details of the deal that have so far leaked out -- details the U.S. has not confirmed -- make it sound like Iran is being rewarded for bad behavior.

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Kathryn Koob, shown at the time she was freed from the US embassy in Iran and recently, says talks with Iran could be constructive. (AP, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier)

“It doesn’t seem like this is a good deal for the U.S.,” said Roeder, who is now 72 and retired in North Carolina. "It seems as if we are paying a lot of money and not getting much of a return.”
Roeder and other hostages believe they have a right to legal damages from the Iranian assets that are already being released after being frozen for years following the hostage crisis. The former hostages are represented by attorney Thomas Lankford, of Alexandria, Va.
“Most of them were tortured horribly," Lankford said of the hostages. "Even [though some were] soldiers, no war experience can prepare you for what they endured.”
Lankford said Americans who spent more than a year as captives of a regime that remains in place cannot be expected to trust it in negotiations.
“There’s a large degree of mistrust," Lankford said. "It’s hard for many of them to know what’s in those discussions.”
There is more to earning a place at the negotiating table with the U.S. and world powers than simply paying the hostages a settlement, said Donald Cooke, who was the embassy's vice consul when he was taken hostage. Iran must own up to the criminal violence in which the current regime was forged, he said.

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Donald Cooke was vice consul at the embassy when students took over, and like others spent 444 days as a hostage.

“If they want to negotiate, they have to deal with the issue of the hostage taking, which the current government is still responsible for," said Cooke, 61, of Maryland. “The Iranian government has to take responsibility or you can't take them seriously in any negotiations.”
Like several of the former hostages, Cooke said he watched the Israeli prime minister's speech with keen interest.
“Benjamin Netanyahu had a good point when he spoke to Congress," Cooke said. "Any negotiation should not be about technical issues. The negotiation should be about changing behavior, and it is not.”
Former U.S. Marine Rodney “Rocky” Sickmann, 57, of St. Louis, was a 22-year-old guarding the embassy in Tehran when his life was changed forever.
"I truly believe that the war on terrorism started on Nov. 4, 1979, when I was a young Marine standing guard at the embassy," he said. "I was only 30 yards away from that fence when they came over it. They used Iranian women as shields when they broke in because they knew we’d stand down.”
Like other survivors, he believes Iran has never answered for its actions.
“They have never been held accountable for what they’ve done to us," Sickmann told FoxNews.com, recounting how he was tied to a chair for days while held by the Iranians. "How do you trust a government that publicly says Israel needs to be eliminated? Anyone should understand why Israel needs to be concerned."
Not all of the surviving hostages believe participating in talks with Iran is a bad idea. Kathryn Koob, who was 41 at the time of the crisis, and was in Tehran serving as director of the Iran-America society, a nonprofit organization established by the U.S. government to strengthen educational and community ties between the two countries, said talking is better that not talking.
“I am glad to see that that is happening,” said Koob, who lives in Waterloo, Iowa, and was one of just two females held hostage by the Iranians. “I think it’s terribly important to engage with all countries in the world, including Iran.

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David Roeder, a former U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who was attached to the U.S. embassy, says the U.S. can't trust Iran.

The U.S. has not had formal diplomatic relations with Iran since the crisis, but Koob said the talks, along with a thaw in U.S. relations with Cuba, are a heartening sign.
“Diplomacy does not mean agreement,” Koob said. “I think discussion is better than doing nothing. You can’t accomplish anything by not speaking to a country and pretending they’re not there.”

O'Malley emerges in New Hampshire as potential Clinton rival for 2016 but soft sells potential challenge

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is emerging as a potential challenger to Hillary Clinton for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination but appears unwilling, at least for now, to mount a head-on challenge to the front-running Clinton.
O’Malley on Friday night at a Democratic fundraiser in key voting state New Hampshire declined to discuss two Clinton controversies -- donations to the Clinton Foundation and her use of a private email accounts -- much less use them to his political advantage.
“I like Hillary Clinton. I respect Secretary Clinton. I am not here to talk about Secretary Clinton," O’Malley said when asked after his speech about the foundation accepting large donations from foreign countries in the two years since Clinton left her post as secretary of state.
Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have long been supportive of O’Malley, who reportedly got Hillary Clinton’s blessing to run for the White House as far back as 2013.
O’Malley’s speech Friday at the Merrimack County Democrats fundraiser in Concord, N.H., marks his first visit to the state since the midterm elections. He last visited New Hampshire in October to campaign on behalf of Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, who won re-election.
Clinton, also a former New York senator, has been the presumptive Democratic 2016 presidential nominee since polling started as far back as 2012, though she has yet to announce whether she is running.
With roughly 44 percent of the potential vote, formidable fundraising might and campaign infrastructure, Clinton has essentially cleared the field of potential primary challengers.
The 67-year-old Clinton has so far in speeches largely focused on wage equality for women and helping the middle and lower classes by increasing pay overall.
When O’Malley was asked Friday night how he would distinguish himself from Clinton, he said, “I don’t know. … I don't know what she's proposing as her candidacy.”
On the issue of Clinton using at least one private email account when secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, O’Malley, a former assistant U.S. attorney, said he wasn’t familiar enough with federal regulations to comment.
But he said that all personal emails for Maryland officials are subject to federal Freedom of Information Act requests.
He also said that openness and transparency is the way of the future and that cities and states have embraced this more than the federal government.
Republicans have sought to take advantage of the back-to-back Clinton controversies, with House Republicans saying they will subpoena the roughly 50,000 pages of emails in question.
And political observers say the controversies could create enough space for another Democrat to mount a strong challenge to Clinton.
On Friday, O'Malley did criticize President Obama and attempted to distinguish himself from the party’s torch-bearer.
He criticized the president for not using executive action to raise the federal overtime pay threshold and said reforming federal laws on immigration is necessary for a thriving economy and national security.
People living “in the shadows of society" create an "underground economy," O’Malley said.

WHERE IS FLIGHT 370? One year after tragedy, officials no closer to finding answers

One year ago today, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared as it made its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The search for the Boeing 777, with 239 passengers and crew on board, has covered almost 1.8 million square miles of the southern Indian Ocean, and has involved 82 aircraft and 84 ships from 26 countries, CBS News reported Saturday.
The search has yielded no signs of the plane -- no wreckage, no life jackets, no flotation devices, no luggage, no human remains.
In January, Malaysia's civil aviation authority reportedly declared passengers and crew on board deceased and officially classified Flight 370's disappearance as "an accident." The families were offered $50,000 per victim.
While the announcement allowed the airline to settle any legal obligations and speed up payments to the families of the victims, many of the families who lost loved ones are angry.
"Despite this complete lack of wreckage found or physical evidence of a catastrophic event, the Malaysian government has officially declared that the airplane crashed, leaving no survivors, and it has ended the rescue phase of the search effort," a group called Voice370, which speaks on behalf of the victims' families, said in a statement issued to the press on Friday, CBS reported. "We do not accept this finding and we will not give up hope until we have definitive proof of what happened to MH370."
According to CBS, four ships continue to search the South Indian Ocean and have covered nearly 45 percent of the target area to date.

"I still call the phone."- Jacqui Gonzales

The one-year anniversary is a difficult time for many victims' families, including Jacqui Gonzales, whose husband of nearly 30 years, Patrick, worked on Flight 370 as an in-flight supervisor.
"A year of no news, no answers and no Patrick," she told CBS. One year later, Gonzales says she still calls Patrick's cellphone.
"I still call the phone," she said. She doesn't hear his voice, "but the recording of his voice mail. His number is still there."
On Saturday, Malaysia's transport minister, Liow Tiong Lai, told the BBC that search teams would continue to look for Flight 370. Liow said he is confident the plane will be found in the southern Indian Ocean.
Still, according to Liow, if the massive undersea search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 turns up nothing by the end of May, the three countries leading the effort will go "back to the drawing board," Malaysia's transport minister said Saturday.
Liow told a small group of foreign reporters on the eve of the anniversary of the plane's disappearance that he remains cautiously optimistic the Boeing 777 is in the area of the southern Indian Ocean where the search is ongoing.
Australian Transport Minister Warren Truss said last week that if the plane isn't found by May, one option is to expand the hunt beyond the current search zone to a wider surrounding area.
Despite the exhaustive search for the plane, which disappeared last March 8, no trace of the jet has been found. Malaysia's government on Jan. 29 formally declared the incident an accident and said all 239 people on board were presumed dead.
"By the end of May, if we still can't find the plane, then we will have to go back to the drawing board," Liow said.
Ships looking for debris from the plane on the ocean floor off the coast of western Australia have so far scoured 44 percent of the 60,000-square-kilometer (23,166-square-mile) area the search has been focused on, Liow said.
In the latest report he received Friday, he said the search team had identified 10 hard objects that still need to be analyzed.
Such findings, which often include trash and cargo containers from passing ships, have been common during the search, and so far no trace of wreckage has been located.
Liow said that Australia, Malaysia and China would meet next month to discuss the next steps in the search. Most of the plane's passengers were Chinese.

Transparency Cartoon

Dem strategist on Christie: ‘We want to kill him dead’

A longtime Democratic strategist is taking heat for recent comments about how aggressively his super PAC plans to go after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. 
"We're not going to pull resources from Christie, we want to kill him dead," Brad Woodhouse told Bloomberg Politics.
Woodhouse is president of the left-leaning American Bridge, launched by Media Matters' David Brock.
During the Bloomberg interview, Woodhouse made the comment when asked if recent bad press about Christie would prompt his group to pull back.
He made clear it would not.
The Republican Party is now calling for an apology.
"We understand that Democrats are getting desperate after the recent revelations about their presumptive nominee and need to create a distraction," Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement Thursday night.
Spicer added that "in no circumstance is it acceptable to say about a sitting governor that you want to kill him dead."
"A line has been crossed, and Brad Woodhouse should apologize," he said.
Woodhouse lobbed back: "Let me respond by using the acronym of Christie's PAC- LMFAO," Woodhouse said via Twitter.  
That retort might be a bit in the weeds, but for context, Christie's PAC name is Leadership Matters for America. LMFAO is Internet shorthand for "laughing my f---ing a-- off."

Students at UC Irvine vote to ban American flag

Idiots

Students at the University of California, Irvine have voted to make their school a more “culturally inclusive” place by banning the American flag.
The Associated Students of University of California (ASUCI) passed a resolution March 3 that would remove the Stars & Stripes along with every other flag from the lobby of a complex housing the offices of the student government.
“Designing a culturally inclusive space aims to remove barriers that create undue effort and separation by planning and designing spaces that enable everyone to participate equally and confidentially,” read the resolution authored by Matthew Guevara.
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The resolution passed 6-4. Two people abstained. Let me break down the vote for you -- six unAmerican students, four patriots and two individuals who could have a career in House Republican leadership.
Guevara’s resolution, which was in dire need of an edit, rambled on about “paradigms of conformity” and “homogenized standards” and blah, blah, blah.
It sounds like Mr. Guevara could have a future career in community organizing or the Democratic party.
“The American flag has been flown in instances of colonialism and imperialism,” he bemoaned. “Flags not only serve as symbols of patriotism or weapons for nationalism, but also construct cultural mythologies and narratives that in turn charge nationalistic sentiments.”
I know, folks. I know it’s California. But this is beyond bizarre even for the yoga and granola crowd.
I reached out to the university for a comment and a very nice spokesperson (who seemed anxious for the weekend) assured me the university did not endorse the resolution.
She also told me the executive board of the student government association is going to meet this weekend and discuss the possibility of a veto.
Reza Zomorrodian, the ASUCI president and a young patriot, told me he was very upset over the student government’s actions and will push for a veto.
“It’s an attack on American values,” he said. “A lot of people want to come to the United States for a reason – it’s because of the freedoms we have.”
Zomorrodian told me the legislation was the result of a longstanding feud over the display of the American flag. He said unknown perpetrators kept taking down the flag and he would put it back up.  The flag is currently folded and being protected in a vice president’s office.
“I’m really disappointed in our legislative council right now,” he said. “I’m firmly against what they did. I think it was a horrible idea.”
Zomorrodian said he wants the American public to know that UC Irvine is a patriotic campus.
“Only six people voted for this,” he said. “We have 22,000 undergrads here. Six people made this decision. The UC Irvine has made huge contributions to bettering this country. This is an elected body that made a decision for the whole and will suffer the consequences of making that decision.”
Mr. Zomorrodian sounds like a very nice young man who understands what the American flag represents --- and I hope he musters the votes necessary to rehoist the Stars & Stripes.
As for the handful of un-American rabblerousers who’ve brought shame upon the campus of UC Irvine – I would offer these gentle words:
If you have a problem with the flag and what that flag stands for and the brave men and women who died for that flag – then you are more than welcome to pack your bags and haul your ungrateful buttocks across the border.
And one final thought about the vandals who keep taking down the flag in the dark of night. I wonder if Mr. Zomorrodian has considered asking the university’s ROTC program for help. I suspect a handful of young soldiers might be able to nip that problem in the bud.

Defiant Sen. Menendez declares, "I am not going anywhere"

A defiant Sen. Robert Menendez declared, “I am not going anywhere,” Friday night amid reports the Justice Department is preparing to charge the New Jersey Democrat with corruption counts over allegations he used his office to help a Democratic donor.
A person familiar with a federal investigation of Menendez told the Associated Press the Justice Department is expected to bring criminal charges against him in the coming weeks. The pending charges were first reported by CNN.
Menendez told a press conference about four hours after the reports surfaced that he had “always conducted myself appropriately and in accordance with the law.”
He added, “I fight for things I believe important…and for the people of our country. That’s who I am.
“I am not going anywhere.”
Menendez took no questions from reporters, saying that because of the “ongoing inquiry” he could not make any additional comments.
The Justice Department would not comment on the criminal charges report, although DOJ sources are not denying that charges may be coming.
Menendez' office did not confirm the reports, but defended the senator's conduct.
In a statement, the senator's spokeswoman Tricia Enright said: "As we have said before, we believe all of the Senator's actions have been appropriate and lawful and the facts will ultimately confirm that. Any actions taken by Senator Menendez or his office have been to appropriately address public policy issues and not for any other reason."
Attorney General Eric Holder also declined to comment on the case when asked by Fox News and President Obama ignored shouted questions by reporters as he left Marine One following a trip to South Carolina.
The case against the powerful lawmaker, two years in the making, comes at a sensitive time for Menendez -- and the Obama administration. Menendez has been a leading critic of the direction of current diplomatic talks with Iran over its nuclear program, and has helped draft legislation meant to check the administration's power to negotiate a deal.
As top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- and a Cuban-American lawmaker -- he also has criticized the administration's efforts to normalize ties with Cuba.
The federal case involves Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, a friend and donor, and allegations of potential favor-trading.
According to CNN, investigators looked at a plane trip the senator took as Melgen's guest to the Dominican Republic. They also looked at how the senator allegedly advocated for him with Medicare officials who accused him of overbilling and allegedly pushed his friend's business interests in the Dominican Republic.
The New Jersey Law Journal, late last month, also reported on court documents in the case, which reportedly were posted by accident for a brief time. The publication said an appeals court has ordered a hearing into whether Menendez' aides can be compelled to testify to a grand jury in the case. The Law Journal, citing the court documents, said the case revolves around the billing dispute Melgen had with Medicare officials and the donor's deal to sell port-screening equipment to the Dominican Republic. In the latter instance, the documents reportedly said the senator's former chief counsel asked U.S. Customs and Border Protection not to donate old screening equipment to the Caribbean nation -- which would allow a Melgen-tied contractor to sell such equipment.
Enright said Friday that Melgen is one of Menendez' closest friends but they cannot specifically address the claims.
"The two have spent holidays together and have gone to each other's family funerals and weddings and have exchanged personal gifts. As has been reported, the start of this investigation is suspect," she said. "We know many false allegations have been made about this matter, allegations that were ultimately publicly discredited. We also know that the official investigation of this matter is ongoing, and therefore cannot address allegations being made anonymously."
Various allegations indeed have swirled around the New Jersey lawmaker, including that he solicited prostitutes in the Dominican Republic -- allegations that have not been substantiated.
The Justice Department's record of going after high-level lawmakers is mixed.
They have won convictions against several House members, including former Republican Rep. Rick Renzi and former Democratic Rep. Bill Jefferson. But the late Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, had his conviction vacated over prosecutorial misconduct. They also never went after Alaska Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, despite claims they were considering it years ago.