Veterans Affairs Secretary Caught Lying About His Military Record

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald, an Obama appointee, has been caught making misleading statements about his military background. McDonald falsely claimed to have served in Special Forces during a TV segment that aired on CBS News last month.

The gaffe came while McDonald was speaking with homeless veterans in Los Angeles. One in particular mentioned serving in the Special Forces. “Special forces? What years? I was in special forces!” McDonald replied.

In fact, McDonald served in the 82nd Airborne. Although he was an airborne jumpmaster and reported attended Ranger school, he never formally served in a special operations capacity.

McDonald issued an apology on Tuesday, saying: “I have no excuses. I was not in Special Forces.” He has explained the gaffe by saying that he “reacted spontaneously” while speaking with a veteran who he was trying to “connect with.”

McDonald’s error has drawn condemnations from lawmakers and veterans leaders. Michael Helm, national commander of the American Legion, said: “A lie is a lie. I can’t believe people do this.”

Republican lawmakers have indicated that they will not call for McDonald’s resignation. House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman Jeff Miller said:

“After a rough couple of weeks that also included inflated claims of accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs, I hope Sec. McDonald will redouble his efforts to ensure his statements -- and those of all VA officials -- are completely accurate. This is the only way the department can regain the trust of the veterans and taxpayers it is charged with serving.”

ISIS Ad Campaign Calls For Homegrown Terror

The newest product from the sick and twisted minds of ISIS is an ad campaign to encourage radical Islamists in the West to launch more attacks like the one on French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

ISIS released a series of videos last week featuring jihadists calling on their supporters in the West to rise up. In one of the videos, the jihadist says: “Don’t give up and particularly don’t lower your weapons, don’t surrender – kill. Today, it’s our darwa – kill them.”

Although the videos are in French, they also have English subtitles and are targeted toward disaffected Muslims throughout the West.

Some experts believe that homegrown terror is the most immediate threat to the US today. It is harder for counterterrorism officers to predict homegrown terror attacks than any other kind.

“You have individuals who are inspired by the ideology but aren’t directly connected to any specific group,” former Homeland Security official John Cohen said last month. “They are very difficult for our traditional counter-terrorism capabilities to pick up on.”

This makes a Charlie Hebdo - style attack in the United States a very real possibility. All that a disillusioned young Muslim would need to do is buy an AK-47 and then walk into a mall and start shooting.

Just a few hours after the videos were released, a Muslim in southern France stabbed three French soldiers outside of a Jewish community center. Luckily, they all survived.

The victims in the next attack might not be so lucky.

Obama Still In Denial About ISIS

The video of a Jordanian pilot being burned alive by ISIS was a gruesome reminder of why radical Islam must be defeated. Yet President Obama barely acknowledged it.

He merely issued a vague condemnation of the attacks, refusing to even mention ISIS by name. Nor did he address the threat posed by radical Islam, instead saying that ISIS is driven by a “bankrupt ideology.”

Obama has been responding to terrorism with deflections and dismissals for far too long.

When a Muslim extremist de-capitated an Oklahoma factory worker last year, his administration treated it as “workplace violence.”

When fundamentalists shot up the offices of Charlie Hebdo, he refused to send a representative to France to honor the victims.

When ISIS first appeared, he brushed them off as a nuisance that could be handled by the Iraqi Army.

Ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away. Despite Obama’s recent insistence in the United States was “stopping” ISIS, ISIS actually holds more territory in Syria than ever before.

Taking on radical Islam will require new ideas. It will require new strategies. It will require leadership.

But first, it will require the President to admit to the public – and perhaps to himself – that the threat exists at all.

Anti-Amnesty Lawsuit Attracts Big Name Support -- And Liberal Hypocrisy

A political fight is brewing over Obama's executive order granting amnesty to four million illegal immigrants.

Twenty-six different states recently joined a federal lawsuit challenging the order. The suit asserts that Obama violated the Constitution by unilaterally pardoning millions of undocumented immigrants. A spokesman for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who filed the lawsuit, described the order as a “brazen and illegal abuse of power.”

Thirty cities and twelve states have issued support for the other side, filing legal briefs defending Obama’s executive action.

The two sides are mostly split along party lines, with those supporting the lawsuit mostly coming from red states and those opposing it coming from blue states.

The officials who are supporting Obama, such as New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and Los Angeles Mayor Ed Garcetti, seem to have forgotten that executive orders were a constant source of liberal complaining during the Bush presidency.

They also seem to have forgotten the risks of pardoning millions of lawbreakers in one fell swoop. De Blasio told the Wall Street Journal that: “delaying implementation of the President’s executive action will further hurt our families, negatively impact our economies, and create unnecessary insecurity in our communities."

Leave it to an aging hippy like De Blasio to make the argument that pardoning millions of undocumented immigrants would somehow make America safer.

The reality is the complete opposite. Giving millions of undocumented immigrants a free pass will only increase the insecurity and instability of our society.

Domestic Violence Gun Bill Showed Lack Of Common Sense

The New York Times editorial board is heaping praise on Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan for vetoing Senate Bill 789, which would have prevented subjects of restraining orders from getting concealed gun permits.

Snyder shouldn’t have caved into pressure from liberal idols like former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who lobbied against the bill. But the real culprits for this fiasco are those who created SB 789 in the first place.

Conservatives are setting a trap for themselves by getting involved in arguments on domestic violence. The NRA, who started this mess by advocating for the bill in national media, should stay away from this issue altogether.

This is the type of fringe conservatism that leads the party to pick someone best know for castrating hogs to deliver the response to the state of the union.

Oklahoma Attempts to Ban Hoodies in Public In Order to Improve Public Safety

Oklahoma residents may soon be fined $500 for wearing a hoodie in public. Lawmakers are expected to vote on a bill next month that would mandate a fine for anyone wearing a hoodie in an attempt to conceal their face.

The proposal is not entirely new: a state law dating back to the 1920s currently bans the use of masks, hoods or other coverings concealing the identity during the commission of a crime.

This law was initially created to discourage the Klu Klux Klan from activity in Oklahoma. However, its modern equivalent will ban the hoodie in all public places at all times.

 “The intent of Senate Bill 13 is to make businesses and public places safer by ensuring that people cannot conceal their identities for the purpose of crime or harassment,” said Senator Don Barrington, author of the proposed amendment.

Jazz Shaw at Hot Air accurately noted that a quick politically-focused Google search of the word “hoodie” will turn up countless of references to Trayvon Martin.

Besides being a preposterous idea — a hoodie barely conceals the face — the proposed amendment will only aggravate tensions already stewing across the nation. It may even inflame rabble-rousers already on edge and fuel community violence.

Instead of banning a common closet item, Oklahoma should enact real legislation to improve public safety for all of its citizens.

Republican Control Of Congress Will Expose President Obama

Republicans have complete control of United States Congress for the first time since 2006. This doesn’t mean that conservative laws will get passed any time soon. Republicans don’t have enough votes in the Senate to pass anything on their own. Even if they did pass something, President Obama would veto it right away.

But do not despair -- there are still some major benefits to being in charge. For the first time ever, Obama will have to actually defend his policies and reckon with a real Republican agenda.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's immediate priority will be authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline, an issue that nearly three out of four Americans support but that Obama has avoided like the plague. If Congress is able to pass this bill, the President will be under pressure to finally make a decision on the issue.

In an appearance yesterday on “Meet The Press,” Sen. John Barasso (R-WY) said about the pipeline: “It is going to be a bellwether decision by the president whether to go with jobs and the economy. He's going to have to decide between jobs and the extreme supporters of not having the pipeline.”

Republicans also intend to begin reforming Obamacare, first by addressing the law’s ridiculous definition of a full time work week as being just 30 hours. Passing this bill will force President Obama to publicly state whether he honestly supports this definition and the institutionalized laziness that it implies. While these aren’t the sweeping reforms that most of us would like to see, at least they will force the President to do something he hates: actually defend his own positions.