CONSERVATIVE NEWS, ISSUES, DEBATES, AND COMMENTARY: 2012-01-08

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Tenth Circuit Overturns Oklahoma Anti-Shariah Law Statute

Putting aside the plaintiff's standing to sue, and even my very unfavorable opinion of CAIR, as well as assuming that the Establishment Clause is legitimately "incorporated" against State governments, then I think the Tenth Circuit was probably correct in overturning Oklahoma's popularly voted law on the basis that it openly targets a particular religion: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/oklahomas-ban-on-sharia-law-struck-down-by-federal-appeals-court/ Tweet

Ambassador John Bolton Endorses Mitt Romney

Texas's Sonogram Before Abortion Law Allowed To Go Into Effect By 5th Circuit, Rules It Does Not Violate Doctor's Free Speech

The AP reports:

A Texas abortion law passed last year that requires doctors to show sonograms to patients can be enforced while opponents challenge it in court, a federal appeals court said Tuesday in a ruling that signaled the judges believe the law is constitutional. The group that brought the case, the Center for Reproductive Rights, has 14 days to ask for a rehearing. If there are no appeals by then, the court would most likely allow the state to begin enforcing the law. The three-judge panel of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned a temporary order against enforcing the law and went further to advise Judge Sam Sparks of Federal District Court how he should ultimately rule in the case. Chief Judge Edith H. Jones used her opinion to systematically dismantle the argument that the law infringes on the free speech rights of doctors and patients, the key argument against the law. “The required disclosures of a sonogram, the fetal heartbeat, and their medical descriptions are the epitome of truthful, non-misleading information,” Judge Jones wrote.

Belafonte On Obama: He Doesn’t Deserve Second Term, Lacks "Moral Compass"

Dennis Miller Humbles Piers Mogran Over Calling Andrew Breitbart "Notorioiusly Evil"

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Muslim Cleric Calls For Salman Rushdie To Be Banned From India

The Guardian reports:

Salman Rushdie was at the centre of a row on Tuesday in his native India after an influential conservative Indian Muslim cleric said the British author and essayist should not be allowed to visit the country to speak at a prestigious literary festival.

Rushdie, 64, is scheduled to speak at the Jaipur festival, the biggest literary festival in Asia and a major fixture on the international circuit, later this month...

But on Monday a cleric from a major conservative Muslim seminary based in the town of Deoband, northern India, called on authorities to cancel Rushdie's visa because the author "had hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims in the past".