White House linked to flotilla organizers; 'Unlawful influence' on elections?; Fired for speaking at tea party

1) Jobs flap seeps across Senate map Blowback from White House attempts to dangle administration jobs in front of insurgent Democratic challengers is now threatening to burn candidates in some of the most competitive Senate contests in the nation, expanding the scope of damage well beyond the two states where the furor originated. Unresolved questions surrounding Rep. Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania and former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff in Colorado — and Republican attempts to provide accelerant to the incumbent protection flap — have suddenly forced Senate candidates in a handful of other states, including Arkansas, Illinois and Ohio, to respond to queries about possible White House involvement in their own races, throwing them off message and on the defensive. …In Illinois, the state Republican Party singled out a supporting actor in the ongoing drama surrounding Romanoff White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, the aide who directly reached out to Romanoff with three distinct job possibilities—for scrutiny by highlighting his expected presence at an upcoming fundraiser for Democratic Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias. “On the day Rod Blagojevich goes on trial for pay-to-play corruption, will Alexi Giannoulias cancel his planned Messina fundraiser?” headlined a GOP press release, which attempted to link the Democrat to a key player in the jobs flap as well as the state’s disgraced former governor. Gotta’ love Illinois! …"It's ironic that Jim Messina currently holds the exact same job that Karl Rove once held in the White House,” wrote Executive Director Rob Jesmer. “Can you imagine what then-Sens. Obama and Clinton, along with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid would say if this had taken place under Karl Rove?" See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38115.html 1a) Prez wielding 'unlawful influence' on elections? Letter seeks list of times White House tried to 'persuade' candidates to drop out The ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform formally is asking President Obama for a list of all of the times the White House tried to "persuade" candidates to drop out of races. The letter today from Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., to Obama's counsel, Robert Bauer, seeks, "A full and complete list of all elections in which the White House engaged in efforts to persuade specific candidates to drop election bids." Issa wrote that, "If a job or any other thing of value meant to entice a candidate to withdraw from or not to enter the race was offered, please specify to whom it was offered, and by whom it was offered." He also asked Bauer publicly to commit to preserving all records concerning "job offers made to Rep. Sestak, Mr. Romanoff, and any other candidates." Issa said he was making the request, "so that the American people can better understand the extent to which the White House systematically interfered with elections across the country." …"In neither the case of Rep. Sestak nor in the case of Mr. Romanoff was it the White Hosue that first revealed that a job was offered to entice the candidates to abandon his campaign," the letter said. "American people should not have to rely on candidates and party leaders who have been on the wrong end of inappropriate and unlawful job offers to disclose those offers months after the fact. Instead, the White House should honor the president's commitment to making his administration the most open and transparent in history…" House GOP Leader John Boehner said while the White House "unsurprisingly acquitted itself of any wrongdoing, " the fastest way for the American people to get answers "is for the White House to come clean and fully disclose its use of federal appointments to manipulate elections." …Peter Ferrar, director of budget policy at the Institute for Policy Innovation and a policy adviser to the Heartland Institute, went further. "Months ago, I predicted in this column that President Obama would so discredit himself in office that he wouldn't even be on the ballot in 2012, let alone have a prayer of being re-elected. Like President Johnson in 1968, who had won a much bigger victory four years previously than Obama did in 2008, President Obama will be so politically defunct by 2012 that he won't even try to run for re-election," he wrote. "I am now ready to predict that President Obama will not even make it that far. I predict that he will resign in discredited disgrace before the fall of 2012. Like my previous prediction, that is based not just on where we are now, but where we are going under his misleadership." See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=162221 More on this…A White House response to Politico on the issue said, "Congressman Issa can continue to chase his tail all he wants, but President Bush's own ethics attorney (Richard Painter) said this was a 'non issue' and called on Republicans to 'move on.' Nothing here is unusual or ever thought to be illegal." "For a president who campaigned by assailing the policies and practices of the Bush administration to justify his actions by invoking his predecessor is ironic. This White House has frequently blamed the policies of the Bush administration when addressing problems, and yet in this case when those policies align with the president's agenda, the White House did not hesitate to embrace them," the letter said (emphasis mine). …"We still don't have all the details about involvement of Obama administration officials in the sale of Obama's former Illinois U.S. Senate seat by Rod Blagojevich. And we still don't have answers about the charge that Obama Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina offered a federal job to Colorado Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff to keep him out of the Senate race. There is also the report that President Obama tried to push disgruntled White House Counsel Greg Craig out of the White House by offering a federal judgeship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. And now we have Joe Sestak," he said. "The Chicago Machine has truly come to Washington." See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=161765 2) New Supreme Court Documents Show Elena Kagan's Pro-Abortion Position Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- New documents obtained by CBS News from Elena Kagan's time as a law clerk for pro-abortion Justice Thurgood Marshall reveal more about her position in favor of abortion. They buttress the previous documents and writings pro-life groups have profiled to show Kagan is well outside the judicial mainstream. CBS News found the documents in Marshall's papers in the Library of Congress and they are legal memos outlining cases the high court would consider. They show Kagan backing abortion at a time when the Supreme Court was trying to mitigate the far-reaching effects of Roe v. Wade and its allowance for unlimited abortions at any time during pregnancy. One of the documents relates to a case of a prisoner who wanted her state to use taxpayer funds to pay for her abortion. Kagan expressed her concern to Marshall that the Supreme Court would use the case to finally place some limits on abortion. "This case is likely to become the vehicle that this court uses to create some very bad law on abortion and/or prisoners' rights," she wrote in the 1988 memo, and recommended Marshall vote against reviewing the case. Kagan also wrote that a court order that mandated taxpayers to pay for the abortions of inmates was “well-intentioned.” Americans United for Life informed LifeNews.com today that the case involved female inmates in the Monmouth County jail who wanted the county to fund their abortions. "Kagan’s memo reveals her pro-abortion sympathies, her inconsistent statements about the role of a Supreme Court clerk, and her desire to put policy above the law," the pro-life group noted. "Kagan’s belief that the lower court’s decision was 'well-intentioned' indicates she thought a ruling expanding abortion rights was a good thing, even if she thought it was wrong on the law." See: http://lifenews.com/nat6394.html 2a) EXCLUSIVE: Documents Show Kagan's Liberal Opinion on Social Issues Elena Kagan has kept her cards so close to the vest that in the days after President Obama nominated her to the Supreme Court, some on the left worried she was too moderate to replace liberal Justice John Paul Stevens. But in documents obtained by CBS News, Kagan--while working as a law clerk to the late Justice Thurgood Marshall - made her positions clear on some of the nation's most contentious social issues. The documents, buried in Marshall's papers in the Library of Congress, show Kagan standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the liberal left, at a time when the Rehnquist Supreme Court was moving to the conservative right. They also provide a remarkably candid picture of her opinions, including on the most controversial issue Supreme Court nominees ever confront: abortion. Although Kagan's confirmation has thus far been an all but foregone conclusion, sources say these documents will give Republicans a few cards of their own to mount a strong fight against her. And they will only heighten demands for more information on her views--including interest in her papers in the Clinton Library. Some of the Clinton Library documents, which cover her time working in that administration, could be released as early as Friday. …Then there was the recently disclosed memo on gun rights. In a case challenging the District of Columbia's handgun ban as unconstitutional, Kagan was blunt: "I am not sympathetic." The Supreme Court took the opposite approach two years ago, striking down the D.C. gun ban as unconstitutional. Taken together, these documents are certain to provoke considerably more questions than the less controversial papers unearthed before her confirmation hearings for solicitor general. See: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504564_162-20006769-504564.html 3) White House linked to flotilla organizers Israel official ties president's adviser to controversial 'Free Gaza Movement' A top adviser to President Obama is the contact person within the White House for communications with the Free Gaza Movement over plans to challenge Israel's blockade of the terrorist Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, according to a reputable source close to the Netanyahu government. The source, a career official whose reliability was established through his tips for the book, "Why Israel Can't Wait," identified John O. Brennan, deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism, as the contact. The allegation raises the bizarre possibility that the Free Gaza Movement's flotilla action in the Mediterranean was being coordinated with the White House, something that would align with a shift in U.S. policy toward Israel being debated within the Obama administration (emphasis mine). Mike Hammer, a National Security Council spokesman, told WND flatly the report "is not true." …WND further reported that at a meeting with Muslim law students at New York University, Brennan declared himself a "citizen of the world" who believed the United States government should never engage in "profiling" in pursuit of national security. The New York Times reported this week that the Obama administration's policy toward Israel was changing in a re-evaluation that now considers Israel's blockade of Gaza to be untenable. But Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu insisted in a special press conference in his office Thursday that "Israel will not apologize for defending itself," which strongly suggested Israel fully intends to continue its blockade. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=162377 3a) 'Guns may have been thrown overboard' Firearms may have been thrown overboard by passengers of the Mavi Marmara, Israel Radio reported Friday, citing IDF sources. According to the report, gun-sights and rifle cartridges not fitting IDF weapons were discovered upon inspection of the ship, leading defense officials to believe that there may have been weapons on board when the ship set out from Turkey aside from the knifes, rocks and slingshots found in the search. Coded messages apparently alluding to scenarios of soldier-kidnapping and soldier fatalities were also found on board the ship. See: http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177479 3b) IDF releases new 'Marmara' clip The IDF Spokesperson on Friday released a new clip depicting Monday's events on board the Mavi Marmara, this time an audio recording of the exchange between the ship and a radio operator from the Navy who urged the captain to turn back. "You are approaching an area which is under a naval blockade," said the radio operator, to which one passenger on the ship replied, "Shut up, go back to Auschwitz." See: http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177505 3c) Helen Thomas (White House Press Corps: Hearst Newspapers) Tells Jews — ‘Get the Hell Out of Palestine’ and Go Back to Germany & Poland Apparently Helen Thomas agrees with Hamas members on board the Mavi Marmara. See: http://www.breitbart.tv/helen-thomas-tells-jews-get-the-hell-out-of-palestine-and-go-back-to-germany-poland 3d) Israeli Forces Board Gaza-Bound Vessel Israeli forces seized a Gaza-bound vessel swiftly and without meeting resistance on Saturday, preventing it from breaking a naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory days after a similar effort turned bloody. Israel has faced mounting international pressure to lift the blockade since Monday's deadly confrontation aboard a Turkish vessel headed for Gaza. But it stood by the embargo -- which it says is needed to prevent the Islamic militant group from getting weapons -- even as the Obama administration called the current restrictions "unsustainable." See: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06/05/israeli-forces-board-gaza-bound-aid-vessel/ 4) Poll shocker! Majority wants Obama records Maintain president should be chased from office if he doesn't come clean At a time when Barack Obama is getting heat for stonewalling information about an alleged administration bribery scandal, a new poll shows more Americans than ever suspect the president is hiding information about his own background and want him to come clean. Questions about Obama's eligibility to be president, exacerbated by his refusal to answer questions, release ordinary background documentation and his extraordinary legal maneuvers to keep his background hidden, have been on the radar of a number of top-level investigative reporters and news organizations since before his election. …"Our latest polling shows a majority of Americans – 55 percent – want Obama to release all records relating to his childhood and his education, including college records, Harvard Law School papers, passport records, travel records, and other similar documentation," he said. "Asked what should be done should it be found that Obama does not meet the qualifications to be president, 59 percent said he should be removed from office, and 35 percent said all bills signed into law by Obama should be repealed," he said. The poll said when asked about whether Obama's background documentation – the school records, birth records and others – should be released, the 55 percent who said yes included more than 82 percent of the GOP, 55 percent of independents and nearly 28 percent of Democrats. Further, another 17.1 percent of Americans said Obama should release some of his documentation, making it nearly three in four Americans who want the president to unlock the steel door on some or all of his background information. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=159317 5) Speaking at a tea party? You're fired! 'I shouldn't have to trade my constitutional rights for a paycheck' When an assistant state attorney in Florida spoke at several tea-party rallies about her beliefs and the Constitution, her boss, a prominent Democrat, fired her – but now protesters are taking to the streets to get her job back. Former Live Oak prosecutor KrisAnne Hall, was ousted May 24 by Democrat Robert "Skip" Jarvis, state attorney for the Third Judicial Circuit of Florida, after he said she refused to stop speaking at tea-party rallies, on the radio and to the Suwannee County Republican Executive Committee. Hall, a 40-year-old mother and U.S. Army veteran who describes herself as a "constitutional originalist" and "fan of American Revolutionary history," sought an injunction in federal court to allow her to continue speaking. Three days later, Jarvis received the motion and fired her. Now Hall is suing, claiming her First Amendment rights have been violated. "I shouldn't have to trade my constitutional rights for a paycheck," she told Florida's Fox 30 News. "If we don't learn why we have the Constitution that we have, we are doomed to repeat the history that brought it to us." …Hall claims she didn't discuss cases handled by the state's attorney's office during her speaking engagements, and she was introduced only as an attorney with expertise in constitutional matters. Hall also explained that she spoke at the events on her own time as a private citizen – not an employee of the state's attorney's office. "I never said anything bad about my office," she told WND. "I never said anything bad about my boss. I never talked about my cases." She added, "When I stand up to speak, I don't consider myself a motivational speaker. I consider myself a teacher. That's why I was asked to come and speak on the Constitution, based on the perspective of our Founding Fathers and blend it with current events. I think that's what my speeches did." …Jarvis, who claims Florida law allows him to appoint and fire his assistants without cause, wrote a series of e-mails on April 22 and 23, according to the complaint. He told her to stop speaking before a "fringe right-wing group" and ordered her to "disassociate yourself from these folks." "He wrote a letter to my attorney telling him that he could hire and fire me at will and I had a choice to make: I could speak or I could work for him," Hall said. "He was clearly throwing down the gauntlet, saying you can keep your First Amendment rights or you can work for me." See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=162041 6) McDonald’s Airs TV Commercial Featuring Homosexual Teen in France (CNSNews.com) – A McDonald’s commercial running in France gives a whole new meaning to the company’s slogan, “I’m Lovin’ It.” The ad shows a teenage boy talking, apparently, to his homosexual boyfriend on a cell phone, followed by an awkward conversation with his father who does not know his son is gay. …According to McDonald’s, the ad “recognizes the diversity of McDonald’s customers in France.” Some homosexual activists in the United States, however, are not happy about the commercial and view it as an attempt to appeal to gays overseas while not reaching out to them in America. The ad begins with the young man sitting at the restaurant table waiting for his father to come back with their food. The boy pulls out a picture, then answers a cell phone call and says, “Hello? I was thinking about you too. I’m looking at our class picture.” He continues, while running his thumb over the picture, saying, “I miss you too. My dad’s coming, I have to hang up.” The boy’s father sits down and says, “Is this your class picture? You look just like me at your age. Let me tell you, I was quite the ladies’ man! Too bad your class is all boys, you could get all the girls.” The boy silently smirks, and the message “come as you are” (venez comme vous etes) pops up. See: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/67082