Chad’s Morning Brief: Is President Obama’s Middle East Policy to Blame?, Racial Bias at University of Texas Claims, & More
Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of September 17, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty for these and many more topics from 6-9 am.
1. Obama's Policy to Blame? (link)
Did Obama's policy of disengagement lead to the attack's on U.S. Embassy's?
Capitol Hill Republican leaders said Sunday the Obama administration’s foreign policy of “disengagement” in the Middle East led to the attacks on U.S. posts in the region.
Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers and Arizona Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, suggested President Obama pulling troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, while offering less than total support for Israel’s effort to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, has left an exploitable void in the region.
“The Middle East believes there is a disengagement policy with the U.S.,” Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday."
He argued Obama has made no significant foreign policy speech since the one in Cairo, Egypt, in 2009 and acknowledged the region poses “difficult” problems -- including the absence of stabilized, democratic governments to replace the recently deposed dictatorships.
“But you cannot solve (the problems) by stepping back,” Rogers said. “It has to be a combination of showing strength and showing up.”
What do you think?
2. Bias? (link)
On Saturday during the Chad Hasty Show, I said that Liberals would start to attack the way University of Texas officials described the man that called in claiming he was with Al Qaeda. UT officials said the man had a light Middle Eastern accent. I knew people would start claiming bias and profiling.
UT community members have raised concerns of racial bias in the UT Police Department’s description of the man behind a false bomb threat to the UT campus Friday morning, and UTPD is standing behind its decision to release the information.
During the response to the threat, which included the evacuation of thousands of students, faculty and staff from all campus buildings, UT Police Department officers released a statement saying the caller was a man with a Middle Eastern accent who said he was affiliated with Al Qaeda. A source close to the situation said UTPD asked UT employees what the caller sounded like and if he had an accent. Employees told UTPD the caller had a light Middle Eastern accent.
An English Professor doesn't understand why it was necessary to release that information.
Associate English professor Snehal Shingavi said the description of the caller provided in the Universtiy statement could cause bias or discrimination toward Arab or Muslim students. Shingavi said he does not see why the University needed to release information regarding the caller’s accent.
During the evacuation, Shingavi tweeted, “All Muslim students at UT, please be safe, and come to my office or contact me if you face any bias or hate or need any support.”
“I want students to know they have access to faculty to help them deal with discrimination and bias they may face on campus,” Shingavi said after the campus had been reopened.
Just wait, this won't be the end of it.
3. Local Democrats Planning a Comeback (link)
The Lubbock Democratic PR machine was in full swing over the weekend in the AJ. Enrique Rangel had a piece in the AJ over the weekend still focusing on the comments made by Judge Tom Head weeks ago. The story wanted to highlight that the local Democrats were planning on seeing a boost from the comments.
Ketner said he is confident that, starting with the 2014 election, his party will recruit strong candidates for all legislative races in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains.
Yet, Ketner is the first to acknowledge that a good number of West Texans might be skeptical that the Democratic Party can rebound in such a short time.
“I hear that all the time,” Ketner said when reminded that his most recent predecessors used to say the party would recruit strong Democratic candidates for legislative seats but — with few exceptions — couldn’t do it.
“But this time we’ll convince the skeptics because we’ll be able to recruit candidates who can win.”
I'll believe it when I see it from Ketner's Democratic Party. The fact is, West Texas is a Republican stronghold. If Ketner and the Democrats want to have a chance out here they will have to find a moderate. Ketner also thinks they can take down John Frullo which is laughable. In the story Ketner says that Frullo hasn't passed any meaningful legislation. Oh really?
Anyone remember Alicia's Law? Frullo joined with State Senator John Corona to file and pass the bill that fights against child pornography. According to KFYO News:
Frullo, with Dallas-area Republican State Senator John Carona, announced the joint filing of “Alicia’s Law”, which would provide administrative subpoena power to receive subscriber data on a computer IP address that is trafficking pornographic images of children.
It would also create a revenue stream to create full-time investigative positions with the Texas Internet Crimes Against Children task forces, in the hopes of rescuing more children across the state.
The bill is named after Pennsylvania native Alicia Kozakiewicz who, at the age of 13, was contacted by a predator through the internet, abducted, and held for four days in a basement where she was tortured and raped.
In a statement, Frullo said that “It is a fundamental function of government to keep our citizens safe, particularly the most vulnerable – our children.”
I guess that's not meaningful legislation to Ketner and the local Democrats.
4. Still Blaming a Movie (link)
It's not just President Obama that is out of touch with what is happening in the Middle East. It's his entire government.
Rice reiterated the Obama administration’s claim that an anti-Islam movie by filmmaker Sam Bacile is responsible for the turmoil.
“First of all, let’s be clear about what transpired here,” Rice said. “What happened this week in Cairo, in Benghazi, in many other parts of the region was a direct result of a heinous and offensive video that was widely disseminated that the U.S. government had nothing to do with, which we have made clear that it’s reprehensible and disgusting. We also have been very clear in saying that there’s no excuse for violence. We have condemned it in the strongest possible terms. We have said that there’s no excuse for violence.”
“But let’s look at what’s happened,” she continued. “It is quite the opposite of being impotent. We have worked with the governments in Egypt. President Obama picked up the phone and talked to [Egyptian President Mohamed] Morsi. And as soon as he did that, the security provided to our personnel and our embassies dramatically increased. President Morsi has been out repeatedly and said that he condemns this violence. He’s called off — his people called off any further demonstrations and has made very clear that this has to stop.”
Other Top Stories:
These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty. Tune in mornings 6-9am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.
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