Hillary's War on Women

In late April, Vice President Joe Biden correctly condemned law enforcement or university and college officials that are accusatory of rape victims. It could very easily be aimed at former Secretary of State, former First Lady and former Arkansas public defender.

State.gov

And if Biden is really upset about it, it could be a great issue to take against Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical 2016 Democratic primary. In his April 29 speech, Biden was specifically talking about college age adults. So actions by Ms. Clinton as a young attorney were even worse – accusing a 12-year-old of bringing it upon herself.

From ABC News:

In 2008, during the height of her presidential primary campaign, Newsday published an in-depth story about Clinton's involvement with the trial. Newsday argued that Clinton's account in "Living History" left out "a significant aspect of her defense strategy - attempting to impugn the credibility of the victim." She reportedly sent an affidavit during the trial requesting the girl undergo a psychiatric examination at the university's clinic, and without offering any source, alleged that the victim had often sought older men. The case, Newsday claimed, "offers a glimpse into the way Clinton deals with crisis. Her approach, then and now, was to immerse herself in even unpleasant tasks with a will to win."

The victim, now 52, first believed Clinton was just doing her job as an attorney, but became enraged upon hearing that Clinton openly laughed about how clever she was as a lawyer in getting a light sentence for someone she knew was guilty.

"Hillary Clinton took me through hell," the victim told the Daily Beast in an emotional interview published today. The woman said that if she saw Clinton today she would say, "I realize the truth now, the heart of what you've done to me. And you are supposed to be for women? You call that [being] for women, what you done to me? And I heard you on tape laughing."

Don’t expect a court case from the 1970s to define a presidential contest. But, it should give Hillary – and her supporters – pause before presume she represents all women.

Death of the 'Tea Party is Dead' Narrative

Tea Party candidate Dave Brat trouncing of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is a great American story that shows elections and people matter. It was a low turnout in one Congressional District (Virginia-7), but it has national reach.

Eric Cantor (HouseMajorityLeader.gov)

This comes a week after Tea Party candidate Chris McDaniel all but defeated the establishment Republican Sen. Thad Cochran in Mississippi. 

This wipes away some of the so called "Empire Strikes Back" glee of establishment GOP victories across the country, led by Sen. Mitch McConnell destroying his Tea Party challenger in Kentucky.

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

"I'm as stunned as anybody," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "I've yet to find one person nationally or in the state outside the Brat circle who thought Cantor would be beaten." 

"This is one of the most stunning upsets in modern American political history," Sabato said. "This is the base rebelling against the GOP leadership in Washington as represented by Eric Cantor." 

"Everybody agrees that if immigration reform was on life support before, they're pulling out the plugs," because no other House Republican will want to end up like Cantor, Sabato said. 

"The Republican electorate has become very conservative and that was demonstrated in conventions like last year," and occasionally in primaries, Sabato said.

Komorowski: No Secondary NATO Members

President Komorowski reminded the world about the importance of Poland in the 20^th Century when he mentioned the Solidarity motto in a toast along with President Obama.

Photo Credit: ipdigital.usembassy.gov

“We were able to bring that wall down,” invoking Reagan. “We also totally destroyed it and we made it possible for Europe to be whole and free again.”

He then mentioned the Solidarity’s slogan: “There is no freedom without Solidarity.” And added, “There also is no freedom if there is no solidarity with nations who want have freedom but have not claimed it yet.”

Solidarity of nations is as important to Polish people and other nations of Eastern Europe now. And the strength of NATO is imperative.

“What is most important for us is to make sure that there are no second-category member states of NATO, that there are no countries about whom an external country, a third country like Russia can say whether or not American or other allied troops can be deployed to these countries,” Komorowski said. “ That is why the decision of the United States of America to deploy American troops to Poland is really very important for us, both as an element of deterrence, but also as a reconfirmation that we do not really accept any limitations concerning the deployment of NATO troops to Poland imposed for some time or suggested for some time by a country that is not a member of NATO.”

On the eve of June 4, the 25^th anniversary of Polish freedom, he said during a press conference with Obama that relations with Russia are important. Things have never been that smooth with Russia.

“NATO-Russia relations, I can tell you that the Western world -- including Poland, and I’m sure it goes for all other countries of NATO -- everyone is very much interested in developing as good relations with Russia as possible, and as good cooperation as possible,” he said. “Poland is also very much interested in the continuation of this uneasy process of the reconciliation beyond difficult history and painful history and bloody history.”

“A few years ago it was Georgia; now it is Ukraine, with a special focus on Crimea,” he later added. “President Putin didn’t hide -- he didn’t hide that these were elements of the Russian armed forces, and this is something that we have to acknowledge -- just the same way Russia never hid that for the last four years it has increased its defense budget twofold. We, ourselves, have to ask the question, why? For what purpose? And what does it have to mean for member states of NATO?”

“All of us are interested in Russia to get modernized so that it is possible to do not only good business modernizing Russia, but also develop relations of good neighborhood and cooperation in many dimensions, in many areas,” he continued. “But today we have to answer this situation that has come up by supporting independence of Ukraine and it tried to choose a pro-Western direction. We have to support the modernization of Ukraine, too.”

The Cold War is not returning because Russia is not yet a super power again. But it wants so badly to be again. That’s why it’s still a threat to its neighbors and potentially to the United States.

Obama’s Visit to Poland key to Affirming NATO’s Strength

I'm always interested when the leader of my current home and my former home meet. 

Polish President Komorowski and U.S. President Obama

Clearly President Obama's meeting this week with Polish President Bronisław Komorowski is among the most important post-Cold War meeting between leaders of the two countries.
 
It looks as though Vladimir Putin may have realized the gig is up and is yielding his expansionist ambitious. But as President Barack Obama is set to push Europe to be stand firm, it’s Poland that will push the U.S. president to stand even firmer against the Russian leader.

From the Associated Press:

 

President Barack Obama will press European leaders this week to keep up pressure on Russia over its threatening moves in Ukraine, while seeking to assuage fears from Poland and other NATO allies that the West could slip back into a business-as-usual relationship with Moscow. …

Yet those reassurances may be of little solace to NATO allies who sit near the Russian border, particularly Poland, where Obama will open his trip Tuesday. In April, the U.S. moved about 150 troops into Poland to try to ease its security concerns, but Obama is likely to get requests from Polish leaders for additional support.

"He's going to hear a very strong message from Polish officials that the mission has not been accomplished," said Heather Conley, a Europe scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "In fact, the work has only begun."

While in Warsaw, Obama will also meet with regional leaders who are in town to mark the 25th anniversary of Poland's first post-communist free elections. Among those leaders will be Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko, who won Ukraine's May 25 election and will hold his first bilateral meeting with Obama.